A poem from South African poet and journalist poet Gershwin Wanneburg.
Destiny’s stepchild
Taken in by Mercutio: on Carlos Gonzalez Olivo in Romeo & Juliet
From the moment Gonzalez made Mercutio real for me, I was inside the story, experiencing it as if for the first time. I was affronted: the cost of hate was too high, the sacrifice of youth beyond justifiable.
Threshold
Alice Courtright’s poem Threshold, inspired by Ugo Rondinone’s sculpture the sun and the moon, is balanced on the edge of so many things … night and day, memory and hope, wonder and knowledge, confusion and understanding. It captures a moment in her life and in the world.
The Cicada’s Cry: Matsuo Basho’s Summer Poems
Arthur Davis shares his reflections on some of Matsuo Basho’s summer poems.
Nursery Rhyme DETOURS
Some works from Calef Brown’s suite of poems in which the first words or lines are from traditional nursery rhymes, then they go off in different directions. Beautifully illustrated by Leo Espinosa.
August Issue, 2024
A collection of all the articles we’ve published over the past month, for those who like to savor their Magpies’ tidings as an issue.
Taigu Ryōkan: You Do Not Need Many Things
“Why are you acting like such a fool?”
I nod my head and don’t answer.
I could say something, but why?
Do you want to know what’s in my heart?
From the beginning of time: just this! just this!
Ibn ‘Arabi and Sufism, a way of reading Islamic architecture
That origin can be represented in no other way than through geometry, which is the primordial measure by which all visible forms are composed. Abstraction is the most faithful and evocative way to imagine the divine essence that makes up the world.
Blossom Drunk: Spring Poems from Basho
Some thoughts on Basho’s spring poems, writings, and journeys, from Arthur Davis.
May Issue, 2024
A collection of all the articles we’ve published over the past month, for those who like to savor their Magpies’ tidings as an issue.
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