"The deepest core of life is poetry and symbol." - Dane Rudhyar
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Tag Archives: Poland
Two Symbols of the Jewish Warsaw: the Wall and the Palm Tree
I. THE WALL “In Rome on the Campo dei Fiori baskets of olives and lemons, cobbles spattered with wine and the wreckage of flowers. Vendors cover the trestles with rose-pink fish; armfuls of dark grapes heaped on peach-down. On … Continue reading
Posted in The Jews, Uncategorized, Warsaw
Tagged ghetto, Jews, Poland, Polin, Simon Schama, symbolism, symbols, the ghetto wall, the Holocaust, the palm tree, Warsaw
11 Comments
In Defense of the Primeval Forest
“The edge of the cancer Swells against the hill-we feel a foul breeze-And it sinks back down. The deer winter here A chainsaw growls in the gorge. Ten wet days and the log trucks stop, The trees breathe. Sunday the … Continue reading
Posted in Bialowieza, Uncategorized
Tagged Bialowieza forest, ecology, EU, European Court, logging, magic, nature, Poland, primeval forest, self-regulation, shamanism
8 Comments
Deeper and Deeper into the Heart of Darkness
On 10 July 1941, the most shameful chapter of my native Poland’s history was written. In a small town of Jedwabne, occupied by the Nazis, its sizeable Jewish community was brutally murdered by the Poles. For years, the perpetrators shifted … Continue reading
Hope, Faith and Sublime Beauty in the Clamor of Suffering: “Ida”
Recently, the Polish movie Ida made a tremendous emotional impact on me. It is the sort of movie about which the less is known before seeing it the better, in order to approach it without any expectations. It is wonderfully … Continue reading
Posted in Movie Review
Tagged film, Ida, movie, Pawlikowski, Poland, Polish cinema, review
20 Comments
1 September
“About Troy“ by Zbigniew Herbert Troy O Troy an archeologist will sift your ashes through his fingers yet a fire occurred greater than that of the Iliad for seven strings– too few strings one needs a chorus a sea of … Continue reading
Posted in Krakow
Tagged Adolf Hitler, history, Hugo Jaeger, Nazi invasion, photography, Poland, second world war, War
23 Comments
The Gift of Otherness
Joseph Conrad, a Polish writer who wrote in English and lived in England, summarized beautifully what I also feel to be the role of an artist: “The changing wisdom of successive generations discards ideas, questions facts, demolishes theories. But the … Continue reading
Posted in Krakow
Tagged Agora, astrology, Buber, dialogue, Kapuscinski, Levinas, maidan, Mars retrograde in Libra, nationalism, otherness, Poland, symbolism, symbols, the Other, tolerance, Ukraine
31 Comments
A Tribute to Home
Krakow I am spending a few days in Krakow, Poland, where I was born and where I grew up. I am reminded of the myth of Antaeus, a Titan who renewed his strength by touching the earth. I have been … Continue reading
Posted in Krakow
Tagged archetypes, astrology, history of Poland, Home, homeland, Krakow, Kundera, Milosz, national identity, nostalgia, partitions, poetry, Poland, Slavic soul, Slavs, St Andrew’s church in Krakow, symbolism, symbols, Szymborska, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the fourth house, Thomas Hardy
30 Comments