tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post115472471885201217..comments2023-10-31T09:37:59.862-07:00Comments on Rocket Kid Writing: Is it August? or me?Rachel Dacushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15754712503067644226noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155998857454023612006-08-19T07:47:00.000-07:002006-08-19T07:47:00.000-07:00Rachel,here, August has been Bhau Kalchuri season ...Rachel,<BR/>here, August has been Bhau Kalchuri season (with a poem on same blogged this morning) -- a good way of passing the summer torpor.david raphael israelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16621521896693000470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155612780281456532006-08-14T20:33:00.000-07:002006-08-14T20:33:00.000-07:00Hi Carmi -- Meteora was a piece of luck -- a lucky...Hi Carmi -- Meteora was a piece of luck -- a lucky Stumble (I blogged about Stumble, maybe it was in July). Amazing that I actually have a poet friend who turns out to have been there and written this spectacular poem. But then, I'm not really surprised, as I believe the universe to be intentional, despite evidence that can seem contrary.Rachel Dacushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15754712503067644226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155611793205716302006-08-14T20:16:00.000-07:002006-08-14T20:16:00.000-07:00OK, I'm a big fan now.Thanks for the link. And for...OK, I'm a big fan now.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the link. And for reminding us that the whininess in the late summer blogosphere isn't all-pervasive.carmilevyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00360045114379957605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155328542367465822006-08-11T13:35:00.000-07:002006-08-11T13:35:00.000-07:00i, Rachel - Thanks for the kind words about a poe...i, Rachel - Thanks for the kind words about a poem I hadn’t read in quite some time. As for climbing, no, I didn’t! And I sure didn’t get up there in a net or bucket!!!! I got to the monastery via bus and pedestrian bridge. I found my booklet on Meteora last night (In Greece, you can purchase wonderfully illustrated and affordable booklets for every site you visit!), and it reminded me that in 1948 a public road had been built in the mountains behind the various monasteries. Apparently only a few monks who act as guides live in the six preserved monasteries. (There were originally 24.) My poem describes what I saw in the monastery called Great Meteoron.<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>Good morning, David - No, I can’t claim that beautiful word “iconostasis.” The iconostasis in a church or monastery (Eastern orthodox, including Russian and Greek) is the screen separating the inner sanctuary where only the priests can go, and the public church. (One of the most beautiful I found in a Cossack church in southern Russia in Novacherkaask. I have a photo of it on my bedroom wall.)<BR/><BR/><BR/>There are thousands of reason to go to Greece! I went with the Classical Alliance. The tour was conducted by a classicist at San Diego State University. It was one of the great experiences of my life!<BR/><BR/>JoyceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155322036554292272006-08-11T11:47:00.000-07:002006-08-11T11:47:00.000-07:00Hey, Jeannine! Thanks for your congrats and for le...Hey, Jeannine! Thanks for your congrats and for letting me know. I haven't got my copy yet, so I'm glad to know it must be on its way.<BR/><BR/>RachelRachel Dacushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15754712503067644226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155318379912389272006-08-11T10:46:00.000-07:002006-08-11T10:46:00.000-07:00Hey Rachel! Just saw your poems in Cranky -nice jo...Hey Rachel! Just saw your poems in Cranky -nice job, great magazine!Jeanninehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16419593830749483323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155266383453824002006-08-10T20:19:00.000-07:002006-08-10T20:19:00.000-07:00What a fearsome and striking poem. ("The only exi...What a fearsome and striking poem. ("The only exit is upward" seems a particularly apt line.) I don't know if "iconostasis" is your neologism, Joyce, but it's certainly a splendidly compact and thought-provoking word (rather like a good pulling into English of the sorts of combined words one associates with German). Makes one wonder about other poss. combination forms for icono- or for -stasis! Icono-aperspectivity? Salt-pillar-static?david raphael israelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16621521896693000470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155256608170314022006-08-10T17:36:00.000-07:002006-08-10T17:36:00.000-07:00Joyce -- this is gorgeous. Thank you so much for p...Joyce -- this is gorgeous. Thank you so much for posting the whole thing. What an amazing experience and set of images. Does justice to the amazing pictures. Thank you for sparing me the climb.<BR/><BR/>RachelRachel Dacushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15754712503067644226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155239743313719832006-08-10T12:55:00.000-07:002006-08-10T12:55:00.000-07:00Hi Rachel - Here’s the rest of the poem. (Column ...Hi Rachel - Here’s the rest of the poem. (Column of Silence, Avranches Press, 2001) The woman in the poem was a member of my group.<BR/><BR/>David, there are several monasteries on top of peaks in Meteora, but they are probably not all open to the public.<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>In the Monastery at Meteora, Greece <BR/><BR/>For a moment the abbot saw Eve.<BR/>He singled you out as he might have her,<BR/>alabaster cheeks lightly rouged,<BR/>silver drops, body a swirl <BR/>of curves like the filigree of birds<BR/>and leaves in the carved iconostasis<BR/>in the monastery nave.<BR/><BR/>With a harsh hand he led you<BR/>to Byzantine frescoes where the Virgin<BR/>nestles cheek on cheek with a Jesus-child,<BR/>or with chin on one shoulder, laments,<BR/>a hand raised in supplication.<BR/>He knew that in this city of men,<BR/>this eyrie,<BR/><BR/>we are the enemy,<BR/>at least one reason for windows hacked<BR/>four feet into stone walls raised on top<BR/>of rocks a thousand feet high,<BR/>the sheer drop cut by occasional outcrops<BR/>of pin oak, and caves gouged out by men<BR/>who fled the flesh.<BR/><BR/>The only exit is upward<BR/>and it is time. Armed with silver cross,<BR/>black robe, gray beard, and groans of the martyrs,<BR/>chest pierced by spike, back split by ax,<BR/>nails driven into feet, their haloed heads<BR/>severed sacred portraits on the ground,<BR/>it is time to show you your salvation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155238640677738912006-08-10T12:37:00.000-07:002006-08-10T12:37:00.000-07:00Hi Rachel - Here's the entire poem. It's from a c...Hi Rachel - Here's the entire poem. It's from a chapbook entitled Column of Silence (Avranches Press, 2001). The woman in the poem was a member of my group.<BR/><BR/>By the way, David,as far as I remember there were several monasteries situated on top of peaks in Meteora. They are probably not all open to the public, however.<BR/><BR/>In the Monastery at Meteora, Greece <BR/><BR/>For a moment the abbot saw Eve.<BR/>He singled you out as he might have her,<BR/>alabaster cheeks lightly rouged,<BR/>silver drops, body a swirl <BR/>of curves like the filigree of birds<BR/>and leaves in the carved iconostasis<BR/>in the monastery nave.<BR/><BR/>With a harsh hand he led you<BR/>to Byzantine frescoes where the Virgin<BR/>nestles cheek on cheek with a Jesus-child,<BR/>or with chin on one shoulder, laments,<BR/>a hand raised in supplication.<BR/>He knew that in this city of men,<BR/>this eyrie,<BR/><BR/>we are the enemy,<BR/>at least one reason for windows hacked<BR/>four feet into stone walls raised on top<BR/>of rocks a thousand feet high,<BR/>the sheer drop cut by occasional outcrops<BR/>of pin oak, and caves gouged out by men<BR/>who fled the flesh.<BR/><BR/>The only exit is upward<BR/>and it is time. Armed with silver cross,<BR/>black robe, gray beard, and groans of the martyrs,<BR/>chest pierced by spike, back split by ax,<BR/>nails driven into feet, their haloed heads<BR/>severed sacred portraits on the ground,<BR/>it is time to show you your salvation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155106125513089482006-08-08T23:48:00.000-07:002006-08-08T23:48:00.000-07:00rather a dramatic exhibition of "I want to be alon...rather a dramatic exhibition of "I want to be alone!" From what Joyce says, it sounds as if the place might now be a cross between (still?) functioning monastery plus pilgrim-tourist location? [It seems almost reason enough to go to Greece. ;-)]david raphael israelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16621521896693000470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155095092040393562006-08-08T20:44:00.000-07:002006-08-08T20:44:00.000-07:00Joyce -- Yay! You got the forms filled out right a...Joyce -- Yay! You got the forms filled out right and got your comment in here.<BR/><BR/>How amazing about your having visited Meteora. And how nice to have a quote from your poem. I'd like to read the whole thing. My understanding is that these Greek monasteries were so rabid about female presence they even banned female animals from the premises. I have vertigo and couldn't possibly climb to such places anyway, but I'd love to read a poem about it! Please send, or post here.<BR/><BR/>RachelRachel Dacushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15754712503067644226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1155070590406852682006-08-08T13:56:00.000-07:002006-08-08T13:56:00.000-07:00Hi Rachel (If this ever gets through to you, I wil...Hi Rachel <BR/><BR/>(If this ever gets through to you, I will be amazedddddd!)<BR/><BR/><BR/>I was looking through my list of “To Do’s” and came across your blog with the link to the spectacular photos of Meteora in Greece. I visited there a goodly number of years ago, and, in fact, have an icon that I bought there on the wall in my bedroom. On the walls in one of the rooms in the most frequented monastery were incredible paintings of the various deaths the martyrs suffered, but it also seemed clear to me that these thick stone walls implied that women were also the enemy: “He [the priest guide] knew that in this city of men/ this eyrie/ we are the enemy/at least one reason for windows hacked/four feet into stone walls raised on top/of rocks a thousand feet high/the sheer drop cut by occasional outcrops/of pin oak, and caves gouged out by men/who fled the flesh.” The quotation is from a poem (“In the Monastery at Meteora, Greece”) that I wrote about that exciting trip, published in my chapbook Column of Silence.<BR/><BR/>(Well, let's see if I made it through all the forms to fill out!)<BR/><BR/>JoyceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1154988242119089192006-08-07T15:04:00.000-07:002006-08-07T15:04:00.000-07:00Sam -- Yes, it's otherworldly. I was happy to come...Sam -- Yes, it's otherworldly. I was happy to come cross your blog entry. It really expanded the breath of my day, and I'm grateful.<BR/><BR/>RachelRachel Dacushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15754712503067644226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1154804766440852892006-08-05T12:06:00.000-07:002006-08-05T12:06:00.000-07:00Thanks Rachel for the link to the photos. As for ...Thanks Rachel for the link to the photos. As for the Varlaam Monastery-- Unreal. That's magnificent.<BR/><BR/>Also, thanks for the kind words that you left about my poetic/purpose ramblings.sam of the ten thousand thingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1154751523205610952006-08-04T21:18:00.000-07:002006-08-04T21:18:00.000-07:00Let's hope Setpember gusts in with a breath of ins...Let's hope Setpember gusts in with a breath of inspiration. Of course, where you are, that's likelier to happen than here! But one never knows the ways of the Muse.<BR/><BR/>RachelRachel Dacushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15754712503067644226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144957.post-1154726335159115932006-08-04T14:18:00.000-07:002006-08-04T14:18:00.000-07:00fab photos -- makes one wish to see a dramatic fil...fab photos -- makes one wish to see a dramatic film set there. (Odd, how much the visual interruption of the copyright notice impairs appreciation of such photos; it differs in kind, not merely degree, with a painter's signature, seems.)<BR/><BR/>so: August is the cruelest month? And after that: <I>September of the passing year</I><BR/><BR/>cheers,<BR/>d.i.david raphael israelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16621521896693000470noreply@blogger.com