New poem
The Pine Nut
A pine nut in the palm of my hand
between head and heart lines, just short of fate,
centred within the plain of Mars;
it looked so gravid, lying there,
so self-contained, thrust and repose,
recursive oval, pale gravel from
the stone pine gardens of Italy;
an edible seed, asking to be palmed
and swallowed whole, to germinate … where?
Solymár Party
The neighbouring town of Solymár had its annual village party (the Solymár Búcsú) last weekend, with a street fair of local market stalls and several days of events. One of the highlights, for me anyway, was a chamber music recital by the local Pilis Kamara ensemble, with items by Bartok, Kodaly and other Hungarian composers, in the lovely outdoor auditorium of the culture house, under the autumn chesnut trees.
Solymár has the most amazing Baroque Catholic church in the main square, decorated inside with dramatic trompe l’oeil frescoes. You can see them all in the panorama below. What a find, in a village church!
[Top]Red sky at morning…
There aren’t many compensations to getting up at 6am every weekday to edit a Hungarian business newsletter, but here’s one of them. Sunrise over Piliscsaba …
[Top]New poem
Tong Fuk, March 2011
Hello, cawed a crow from the pandan tree,
against late afternoon’s lazy rays
falling flat across Tong Fuk beach;
you, kilted in your canary fleece,
with Esther, still a cocooned papoose
in the terracotta baby wrap;
Diana, wearing her salmon shorts,
holding her angel down to dip
its little wooden feet in the sea,
mirrored in the sand’s clear glass.