11photographs

by desanka maksimovic

born 1898 in yugoslavia:

i seek mercy

for the women stoned

and their accomplice- the darkness of night

for the scent of clover and the branches

on which they fell intoxiated

like quails and woodcocks

for their scorned lives

for their love torments

unrelieved by compassion.

i seek mercy

for the moonlight and for the rubies

of their skin

for the moonlights dusk

for the showers of their undone hair

for the handful of silvery branches

for the loves naked

and damned-

for all

mary magdalenes.

y o u

are

b e a u t i f u l

youre only dancing on this earth for a short while
and though your dreams may toss and turn you now
they will vanish away like your daddys best jeans
denim blue fading up to the sky
and though you want them to last forever
you know they never will
you know they never will
and the patches make the goodbye harder still . . .

to quote isak dinesen -
the cure for anything
is salt water:
sweat – tears- or the sea

nothing of importance happened today
so said king george george III
in his diary entry on july 4 1776