Erasure Mosaic

1.

Στα πεύκα τριγυρίζω
Ψάχνω γλυκό Χάρο
Με βλέπει και χαμογελάει
Αρχίζω πια να σφίνω.

Le persone che passano per le vie non si conoscono.

Mille cose, 
Un secondo, non si fermano. 
Après mille et une nuits
Un seul mot
Mille et une nuits, pure.

تحت مسلات
تحت رماد
خلف القضبان
Bu kara mermerin altında
Bir çocuk gömülüdür.

Una vibrazione lussuriosa muove continuamente
Ogni fantasma
وحش
La giostra delle fantasie
Danse jusqu’aux transes
Una sombra de ciprés.

(Dejadme en este campo, llorando.)

2.

Passa una donna nerovestita
con gli occhi inquieti sotto il velo.

Qualcosa corre tra loro, stelle
Ripararsi dalla pioggia sotto il portico
Seduzioni senza dito, 
quasi senza occhi.

El horizonte sin luz 
Autour de l’œil.

(Ya os he dicho que me dejéis en este campo,
llorando),
أهلكن الطوفان

Jamais vous n’affaiblirez la tempête
Elle a brûlé la plus haute tour de votre ville
En toute conscience.

3.

Et de l’esprit?

Yanlış sorusu
Bir tek ve doğru karşılığı:
Ayaklanmasının kalbine!

Elle a brûlé
Elle a incendié
Elle ne croit pas à vos livres
Le pressoir de votre silence.

Les paroles à dire
Et les paroles à taire autour
Tout est dit sur le chemin à suivre.

Arkadaşları zakkumlarla örmüşlerdir şu şiiri.
No queda más que el silencio.
Μές στό σκοτάδι, κάποτε, 
Οι καθρέφτες ψιθυρίζουνε αλήθειες.

***

Translation

1.

In the pine trees I wander
I am looking for sweet Death
He sees me and smiles
I start to fade away.

The people who move through the streets are all strangers.
A thousand things, 
A second, never stopping.  
After a thousand and one nights
Only one word
A thousand and one nights, pure.

Beneath the obelisks
Beneath the ashes
Behind the bars
Under this black marble
A child is buried.

A luxurious vibration moves constantly
Every phantom
A wild beast
The carousel of fantasies
Dancing into a trance
A shadow of cyprus.

(Leave me in this field, crying.)

2.

A woman in black comes along
her eyes restless beneath her veil.

Something runs among them, stars
Taking shelter from the rain under the portico
Seductions without a word, 
almost without eyes.

The horizon without light 
Around the eyes.

(I already told you to leave me in this field, 
crying),
perished in the flood.

You will never undermine the storm
She has burned the highest tower of your village
Shamelessly.

3.

And of the spirit?

The wrong question
One correct answer:
To the heart of the uprising!

She burned
She burned
She doesn’t believe in your books
The winepress of your silence. 

The words to say
And the words to be silenced
Everything is said about what road to take.

Her friends knitted this poem with oleanders.
Nothing but silence remains.
In the darkness, sometimes
Mirrors whisper truths.

***

Source Poems

Abdul Wahab Al-Bayati, “Reading from the Book of Al-Tawasin by Al-Hallaj” (Shiraz’s Moon)

Ece Ayhan, “Meçhul Öğrenci Anıtı”

Italo Calvino, “Le città e gli scambi. 2.” (Le città invisibili)

Federico García Lorca, “Ay!” (Poema del cante jondo)

Rachida Madani, “Premier conte, VIII” (Tales of a Severed Head)

Yannis Ritsos, Μονοχορδα, 239

“Μες της πεντέλης τα βουνά” (Road to Rembetika)

Night

PROLOGUE

...sunset… (6pm) 

Raga Purvi (sunset) improvisation with:

Poetry Reading: Ulysses excerpt, by Tennyson (UK/Ancient Greece)

Beginning with “the lights begin to twinkle,” to end of poem.

1.Purim Dance: Hara’ashan / The Noisemaker (Israel)

ACT I

...moonrise… (6-8pm) 

[THEMATIC EMPHASIS: THE LUNAR IMAGINATION] 

Raga Yaman (early night) improvisation with:

Poetry Reading: From Mistral’s Madwomen (Chile) 

“The night itself is riddled with her, / wide with her, and alive with her. / It seems that it has no word / or other traveler, no other secret sign.”

2. Guzheng Song: Autumn Moon over the Han Palace (China)

3. Comedy Sketch: featuring the Space Race and Moon Landings (inspired by Eddie Izzard’s “Do You Have a Flag” sketch) - (USSR/USA)

4. Dance and Drumming: Macru (Guinea/Susu)  A dance to celebrate the full moon.

5. Commedia dell’ Arte Improvisation: Pierrot sketch (Italy)

6. Rock Song: Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival (USA)

...the night is young… (8-10pm)

[THEMATIC EMPHASIS: OPTIMISM AND REBIRTH]

Raga Chayanat (early night) improvisation with:

Poetry Reading:  Your Night is of Lilac by Mahmoud Darwish (Palestine)

7. Arabic Popular Song: Sakan El Leil/ The Night Became Young   فيروز - سكن الليل  by Fairuz/Gibran [Translation] (Lebanon)

8. Narrative and Reenactment: Water Lantern Ceremonies of East Asia and educational piece on how the event manifests across Asia, with instrumental Thai music in the background (East/SE Asia)

9. Isicathamiya Song: The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Ladysmith Black Mambazo (South Africa)

...for in dreams we enter a world that is entirely our own… (10pm-12am)

[THEMATIC EMPHASIS: DREAMSCAPES]

Raga Kirvani (night) improvisation with:

Poetry Reading:  Talking in the Night by Rumi (excerpt, first 20 lines)

10. Folk Quartet: Son Mi Doide (Bulgaria)  [lyrics] An a capella song from the Rhodope mountains about dreaming of a little maiden on a river.

11. Theatre: Excerpt from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (England) A dream scene from the Shakespearean classic.

12. Media: Projected Gameplay of Psychonauts (USA) A videogame about entering people’s dreams.

13. Theatre and Music: Excerpt from Noh Play Kanawa (Japan) A divine oracle visits dreams and helps a woman become a demon out of spite for a lover who betrayed her.

14. Flamenco Song and Dance: La Estrella Blanca by Fondo Flamenco (Spain) A song about dreams and desires.

INTERMISSION

Zozobra Burning (New Mexico)

ACT II

...burning the midnight oil… (12-2am)

[THEMATIC EMPHASIS: NIGHT PARTIES, CELEBRATIONS, AND LAMENTATIONS]

Raga Bahar (midnight) improvisation with:

Poetry Reading: Yawn of Yawns by Vasko Popa (Serbia)

15. Bollywood Dance: Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje (India)

16. Performance: Drag Show Piece (LGBTQIA+)

17. Film: Film Noir Spoof  (France/USA)

18. Tango Song and Dance: Amargura by Carlos Gardel (Argentina)

A song about bitterness: “Star of the sky, why do you look at me?”

...the witching hour… (2-4am)

[THEMATIC EMPHASIS: CREATURES OF THE NIGHT]

Raga Hindol (after midnight) improvisation with:

Poetry Reading: The Night by Rilke (Germany)

19. Reading/Painting: Excerpt from Roald Dahl’s The BFG with Live Painting (Norway): A children’s book excerpt about the mythology and whimsy of the witching hour. 

20. Aria: Queen of the Night by Mozart (Austria)

21. Film: Remake Scenes based on What We Do in the Shadows (New Zealand)

22. Folk Song: La Llorona (Mexico)

23. Comedy Sketch: A student collaboration piece featuring dark creatures from around the world, highlighting similarities and differences of international folklore.

...it’s always darkest before the dawn… (4-6am)

[THEMATIC EMPHASIS: SILENCING]

Raga Sohini (before sunrise) improvisation with: 

Poetry Reading: Night Funeral In Harlem by Langston Hughes (USA)

24. Choro Song: Noites Cariocas by Jacob do Bandolim (Brazil)

25. Shadow Choreography and Narrative of the Disappeared (Global): A Highlight of global political “disappearances” past and present. 

26. Calypso Song: Last Night The Landlord Nearly Killed Me by Lord Christo (Trinidad)

27. Filler:  The Moon Gazer (Trinidad/Guyana)

28. Folk Rock Song: House of the Rising Sun by the Animals (NOLA folk/UK)

POSTLOGUE 

...sunrise…

Raga Ahir Bhairav (daybreak) improvisation with: 

Poetry Reading: Dawn Chorus by Sasha Dugdale (UK)

29. Dance: Choreography to Also Sprach Zarathustra by R. Strauss (Germany)

Bows to Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers (Scotland)

Election Countdown

TEN

Black Eyed Peas and Jennifer Hudson: The Love

For Black lives and Black voices, and a country that needs them.

NINE

Archie Roach: Took The Children Away (30th Anniversary)

For the children on the border.

EIGHT

Mashrou Leila: Roman

For all the facets of feminism and identity that are under threat tonight.

SEVEN

Pussy Riot: Make America Great Again

For Amy, may she fail to sustain the dystopia she was appointed to protect.

SIX

Joan Baez: The President Sang Amazing Grace

For those left behind, from Columbine to Charleston to Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and for the memory of basic human decency in leadership.

FIVE

Mali Ko

For artists in exile, at home and abroad.

FOUR

Taboo: Stand Up / Stand N Rock

For the recentering of Indigenous voices, and for the landscapes they protect.

THREE

 Μάνος Λοΐζος: Accordion

For anti-fascists, past, present, future.

TWO

Leonard Cohen: Solidarity Forever

For the dignity and sustainability of essential workers, and the unions working to affirm that dignity.

ONE

Charly García: Los Dinosaurios

For all those affected who have no vote.

ZERO

Bob Dylan: The Times They Are A-Changin’

For the better angels of our nature. May we be worthy.

POST MORTEM, PRIORI RENOVATIO:

Hope.

I felt it, today, struggling at first to recognize a sensation that had eluded me for quite some time.

It is a conditional hope, but one no longer fettered by the constant daily barrage of depravity and debasement that we have been forced to endure these past four years.

This is not a victory, so much, as a reprieve. We have borrowed four more years to set the stage for a real fight against the oppression, racism, climate suicide, late stage unfettered capitalism, and other intersectional vagaries of a nation founded on slavery, dispossession, and genocide. But that’s not all it was founded on, and I’m not willing to throw out all of the origins of a unique and hopeful version of democracy that found champions in people such as Abigail Adams, Sojourner Truth, Eugene Debs, John Dewey, Recy Taylor, Thurgood Marshall, Pete Seeger, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Maxine Greene, Harvey Milk, Angela Davis, bell hooks, John Lewis, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and countless other politicians, organizers, activists, artists, teachers and citizens, who have grappled with that history and attempted, over and over again, to build something beautiful in its wake. I turn again to areas ripe with activist potential: election reform, education reform, institutional reimagining, and, perhaps the hardest of all, bringing back into the fray some of the 70+ million people who just voted for white supremacy and US-American fascism. And so we march on, demanding a renaissance with all of the hope and vigor we can muster, to sustain us in the battles for hearts and minds that lie ahead.