Sonnet by the sea

Nobody taught me at first how to live,
So I turned to the sea on one morning
Waves kept on hurling my soul into shape
And I drowned in their passion and longing

Since then I wander around by the shore
And in miles I see no man’s face gleaming
Hours are long and they rush blindly on
And I feel like I’m dead or I’m dreaming

If I don’t find life, before I descend
On the seabed, in roaring and wringing,
All of my songs, sung in all of the tongues
Will be lost with my heartbeat and breathing

Waves will sing “Lo! though was taught by our ways,
Not one day has he walked with the living”

Poem in HEX

45 61 63 68 20 63 6f 64 65 20 69 73 20 62 6c 65 61 6b 0d 0a
41 6e 64 20 74 65 6e 64 73 20 74 6f 20 66 72 65 61 6b 0d 0a
52 65 61 64 65 72 73 20 74 68 61 74 20 63 72 65 61 6b 0d 0a
57 68 65 6e 20 66 65 65 6c 69 6e 67 20 77 65 61 6b 0d 0a
0d 0a
42 75 74 20 65 6d 70 74 79 20 63 6f 64 65 0d 0a
57 6f 75 6c 64 20 6a 75 73 74 20 69 6d 70 6c 6f 64 65 2c 0d 0a
42 65 20 69 74 20 6e 6f 74 20 6d 6f 64 65 0d 0a
54 68 6f 75 67 68 74 73 20 74 6f 20 65 6e 63 6f 64 65 0d 0a
0d 0a
53 6f 20 74 61 6b 65 20 74 68 69 73 20 74 65 78 74 0d 0a
44 65 63 6f 64 65 20 66 72 6f 6d 20 68 65 78 0d 0a
46 6f 72 20 74 68 65 20 63 6f 64 65 27 73 20 6c 65 78 2c 0d 0a
49 73 20 75 6e 63 6f 6d 70 6c 65 78 0d 0a
0d 0a
41 6e 64 20 69 66 20 79 6f 75 20 77 69 6c 6c 0d 0a
54 68 6f 75 67 68 20 69 74 20 73 65 65 6d 73 20 69 6c 6c 0d 0a
41 64 6d 69 74 20 74 68 69 73 20 64 72 69 6c 6c 0d 0a
42 65 20 70 6f 65 6d 2c 20 73 74 69 6c 6c 0d 0a

Câteva menţiuni legate de poezie:

1. Postul a fost “stimulat” de alte 2 posturi, mai precis acesta ,si acesta. Am zis – dacă tot sunt la modă posturile în binar ce-ar fi să scriu şi eu unul. Ei bine,  regula blogului e că trebuie să fie ceva cât de cât literar acolo, şi aş  fi scris o poezie în binar, dar ar fi ieşit a naibii de lungă (codul binar e chiar foarte lung), şi nu s-ar mai fi văzut nici structura poeziei. Hexa e mult mai scurt. A, şi în plus de asta, cine ar mai fi observat rima? Că tot veni vorba…

2. Rima. Şi poeziile în hexazecimal au rimă. Se observă monorima “0d 0a” peste tot. Ok… am trişat, “0d 0a” de fapt înseamnă rând nou (da, ştiu, în hexa trebuie scrise şi începuturile de rând nou – ceea ce înseamnă că absolut orice poezie în hexa rimează ). Dar chiar şi ignorând “0d 0a” de la sfârşitul rândurilor, tot se vede rima, de exemplu e “65 61 6b” în prima strofă, “6f 64 65″ în a doua, etc.

3. Ok, pentru cine e încă mirat, ca idee, poezia e scrisă în cod hexazecimal (16 cifre: 1, 2, …, 8, 9, a, b, c, d ,e ,f) şi fiecare 2 cifre fac un caracter. Şi dacă la final chiaaaar vreţi să o mai şi citiţi, vă recomand site-ul ăsta (doar nu era să dau totul mură-n gură).

Happy HEXing, everyone!

Exile

I went home to the Land of Youth
Where all my dead do dwell
With swollen lips I kissed the spring
Of Heaven and of Hell

An exile am I,
Doomed to roam
In all my days a new land
An ashen hope I carry on,
And when I turn back time to see
My breath returns to where I weep,
To places I nor reap, nor give,
To ages dim and shallow graves

An exile am I, and I crave

Village before the dawn

My longing never cried away
Until this day at morning break,
When all so silent, all so grey
The country started to awake

Beside the stone walls in the night
I passed with shades and sung with them
A song I hadn’t ever heard
With daylight drumbeats keeping tight

The candle’s out,
Bereft of souls to keep the weak glow breathing still
But in a way its image haunts me in my dream
From far away

So though I’m far away, my heart
Keeps dancing by a shimmering bay;
Beside old inns and stone church sway
My hundred days, into its light

The Island – part 5

When I woke up there was no-one around the place. All that was left was some torn cloth on some branches, probably from Mina’s gown. I must have lain uncounsciously for some hours, for the sun, as could be distinguished between the branches was about to set. I got on the road and arrived by the village soon after dusk. People were gathered around a campfire.

As soon as they saw me some rushed to ask me about what happened and offer me something to eat. I thanked them, and told them what had happened. I did mention my reverie, but didn’t give too much detail. There were murmurs all around the campfire and there was little I could offer these people for comfort, for the disappearance of Mina, Hiras and Miclas.

An older woman (who I barely knew and who reminded of a which) came forth and said:

“But how do we know, young man, that your story is true? Or maybe you killed the others and now are playing tricks on us? Hm?”

I had nothing to say. The people kept on murmuring and I was unsure whom they doubted more – me or the woman.

“But – young man, it might be that you’ve come across boneflower, which could shed some new light on your story. Boneflower grows around these places… I… might happen to have some, somewhere.”

As she was about to leave for the hut, one of the men got up and asked “But wait. What are you trying to prove? And who are you to seed mistrust amongst us?” The others seemed to agree with him.

She answered without hesitation “Four have left, one returned. Are you so foolish to believe the words of just any stranger that comes to you and speaks? Even if you live next to them, they are strangers, you know them not. They might be your killers, your tyrants, your robbers. We are obviously here for some reason, which you know not! You should keep on your belongings tightly, but also on your life. For look what happens in these jungles, look how those three of you have ended. Who knows in what pit, who knows in the jaws of what beast.”

An great silence installed around the campfire, also remembering the incident with the animal the other day.

She left to a hut in the dark, returned with a bowl and placed it on the fire. It took a while for it to boil. She brought a handful of long bambus looking plants and placed them in the pot. We all waited for maybe half an hour. Then she took bowl and poured some of it next to the fire, raising a puff of greyish-green smoke.

When she did it, I was bent over, trying to get a better glimpse of what she was doing. The smoke struck me instanly and I fell on the ground, burning my palm and my elbow. I curled inside and with quick and despreate moves crawled away a few steps. The woman started to laugh and poured the rest of the pot on the fire, leaving a few embers glowing in the moonless and starless night.

In the dark, choking sounds were heard from several people. “What the hell happened?” they were crying, “Where the hell is that bloody witch?”

The embers got covered by the greenish smoke. I felt the heat of a body lying numbly next to me. Clearly some had fainted and I was hoping none had actually died. All of a sudden a loud man’s voice spoke, uttering some unintelligible words.

Then the greenish light intensified above what used to be the campfire and an image of what looked like some sort of monk or priest appeared – a man wearing a dark cloak, with little decoration, apart from some green and dark-orange ribbons around his waist and on his arms.

He spoke, in the same voice that was heard earlier: “For what you have done to my temple you will pay, and this be your curse! Slaves will be slaves, holy men will get their strength back and that which is to crumble will crumble. We will be gods, with or without you. Curse you, men!”

He added two or three more words in that odd tongue and seemed as about to say something more, when some lights appeared from the houses. Some people were running towards the campfire with some torches they had brought from their adobes.

As they drew closer, in a second the whole illusion turned to mist. In the newly-shed light people were coming out from behind trees and bushes and some where still there, stunned but with knives in their hands, now starting to put them back in. Some of the people lying on the ground were waking up from their faint, however some were still unconscious.

In silence, some quickly retreated to their huts, others remined longer, to take care of those still lying on the ground or to take them somewhere inside.

The madman’s joy and lament

My path has gone away, –
At times, my mind feels like a child who sings
My glory, though be lost, it seems
I need not gain it, anyway

And yet I weep for what it feels
The path’s once been, and indistinct
I hope my madness leads me well, for in my joy
I deafly sing

The Island – part 4 (The Walls)

It was the second day when, having taken enough food for the day, we were advancing on a pretty wide path through the forest. We soon arrived to some tall walls, somewhat hidden beneath the vegetation. We decided not to continue on the path, which was straying through the jungle away from the walls we had found and rather stroll alongside them. After some time walking we found a massive gate, made out of two pieces of massive wood incastrated in iron.

The gate was far from being openable, so we continued our search for a mound or something of the sort to get us on the other side. The earth in the region we were heading was full of tall and steep little hills separated by deep holes in the ground.

We found a pack of trees that seemed easier climbable and after 15 minutes of climbing around and a couple of bruises we managed to get on top.

Every now and then on the wall there were some wooden urns, some better preserved than others. We started walking on the wall. We were heading towards the sea. An odd sense of plants was becoming increasingly perceivable. I had felt it before but ignored it until now, as nausea was laying its grip on me and as we were advancing my mind was getting filled with blurry thoughts. The image of the gate that had haunted me ever since I had first seen it was starting to give me an odd feeling. We should’ve entered by the gate. Everyone has to enter by the gate. It’s the way things go. It appeared to me now as if the thin fog I had just noticed was thicker around the urns, like a smoke rising from al around us. We were walking in line and I was the second after Mina. Where was Mina? Had she just screamed moments ago?

Through the smoke I saw her lying on the ground. She had fainted and fallen three or four metres. I hoped that the trees had eased her fall. I can’t remember how I got down in such a short time. But we were standing around her, Miclas, Hiras and me, in a forbidden land, and Mina had a wound on her head. And we had to take her back home as quickly as possible, through a smoke that was filling us slowly and making us lose our senses. We improvised some primitive tourniquets and tried to drag her, but shortly we ourselves fell on the ground. Miclas started mumbling some sort of a prayer and performing some sort of a ritual with some leaves of a nearby tree. I was preparing to get everyone going again when I noticed some eyes in a bush nearby.

I froze on the spot. I knew the priests were here. I was seeing the black-cloaked death raising and bringing a shiny dagger towards me.

The dagger slowly coming down on me, almost touching my chest.

Then the face of a priest uttered to me: “The walls are not there to be crossed and the sea is cursed with tempest. The gate is locked and there is nothing left for you in here. Like men, do not return, like birds, do not return, like beasts, do not return, like gods and like the dead, do never dare return in here.”

Then I envisioned a beast, like the one that had come to our settlement the previous day, which was carrying Mina, Hiras and Miclas on its back. I watched them until it got them safely home. The people of the village took them in the huts to take care of them.

An image of six fires around a bigger fire and surroundings of temples, cliffs and a harbour appeared and stood with me for a while longer – the town whose name I could not recall that was locked and gone . Soon I felt cold water drop from the trees above, waking me up.

The Island – part 3 (The Beast)

We noticed a great fuss going on in the settlement as soon as we arrived. An animal that looked like a bigger and furrier panther was tied to a tree by some thick rope. The beast was a little shorter than a man when it was standing on all its fours, so it could have killed any of us with one single blow of the paw. Hiras and Vov were trying with two additional ropes to immobilise the animal and several other people were running around, not sure what to do but trying to get their hands onto something.

My companions were pretty astounded by the view and when I asked how they managed to catch the beast, Hiras quicky answered it had been him and the boys. Of course they couldn’t have done it with mere ropes, but in the agitation and panic it seemed that nobody was aware of this obvious fact. “Release it”, I said, but they wouldn’t hear me. So I yelled to release it and went over to the animal to untie the ropes. They only stopped the ado after a while. The animal seemed playful as it was jumping around with heavy thumps.

“How do you know? How do you know what you’re doing?”

This must’ve been something all very natural, that for some reason none of us could understand.

All of a sudden it looked around in distress and after a few leaps it disappeared into the jungle. All this took me by surprise, until I noticed Hiras was grinning and holding an axe in his hand.

The Island – part 2

It had all started last week, with a powerful flash of light. We were all lying on the ground, at the edge of a forest, unaware of anything that had happened. We were recognising each other and vaguely remembering our names, but that was about it.

It was afternoon and all we did later that day was walk around, see what lies around the place. We soon found a narrow but long beach at the base of some hills that were continuing beyong our vision. Up those hills we found a little plateau with a few very primitive huts scattered around. On small parcels lay various plantations. It seemed we had what to eat for at least a month. Moreover, higher uphill was the forest and two paths were visible to us. We were sure living in this place would not be a problem, at least for a while.Later we set up a fire and slept by it that night.

The second day we started wandering again. There were three main paths leaving from our settlement. One of them led down to the beach. The other two were entering the forest. We chose the one that seemed to lead towards some higher hills and small mountains we could see from our place. Since we were only seven people altogether and three decided not to leave the settlement, we didn’t split up. After two hours of walking the sun got covered by clouds and a light fog settled in. Luckily the path was clear under our feet and it only took a half more hour to get to the summit of what seemed to be the highest mountain in many miles. We estimated it couldn’t have been more than 700 feet high and we should have seen pretty far away, if it had not been for the weather.

Atop there was a small construction, which looked like a shrine or an observatory. Four pillars sustained a small wooden roof with traces of old paint on them. It looked like it had once been painted with red and blue models; however they couldn’ really be distinguished and the bare dark wood was now exposed in most places. The construction was fixed straight into the rock below, which had, in the middle of it a pillar carven in rock, round at the top, and with rectangular holes all around it, though which the hollow interior was visible. Though it looked suited enough to contain some statuette inside, all we found in it was a votive light. It was lit and it threw a red light around it.

As I saw it, an acute feeling of unease struck me. It was as if it was bringing back an indistinct memory of something terrible that had just happened and that hadn’t had enough time to settle down. But there were absolutely no images connected to that. As I had stopped for a moment, only then I noticed my friends had remained several feet behind me. They were staring motionlessly at the shrine. I made them a sign to come, but they wouldn’t move. So, I went on near the shrine alone. The fuel for the votive light was halfway full in the red glass. It must have been filled a week ago.

In the distance several fires could be seen.
“I think we shouldn’t waste any more time here” I suddenly heard Miclas whispering next to my ear.
“Wait a second”, I replied and showed him the fires in the distance. “What do you think those are?” They looked like they were burning on top of some stone walls.
“Isn’t that our place?”
Then Mina broke out: “We came the other way, Miclas, no way! I’m sure terrible things happen there. Terrible things. What is wrong with you? Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

We all looked at her and were silent for almost a minute (I think). I knew what they were feeling, because I was feeling it too. I wasn’t certain what it was, but even though it didn’t make any sense, among other things, it implied some sort of guilt.

Then someone said, “It’s getting late, let’s go.” I can’t remember who, but we were all thinking the same. On the way down, the rain started.

[the island]

Dupa cum ati observat, am inceput de curand un short-story, The Island, pe care o sa-l public aici, pe bucati, pe masura ce il scriu. Toate fragmentele se vor gasi laolalta in pagina aceasta.