Poems About Horses (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets)

I'm pretty psyched about one of my poems, "A Progression of Scents," appearing in this volume: Poems About Horses (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets) by Carmela Ciuraru (Editor).

The Ecstasy of Santa Teresa

Bernini's sculpture draws on S. Teresa's account of her vision: "It was our Lord's will that in this vision I should see the angel in this wise. He was not large, but small of stature, and most beautiful - his face burning, as if he were one of the highest angels, who seem to be all of fire: they must be those whom we call Cherubim. I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it, even a large one. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of his goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying."

Divine ecstasy sounds perfectly sexual, too, and the sculpture poises the angel with his golden spear above the floating Teresa (who was said to levitate).

More photos from today's walk and lecture (with Prof. Jeffrey Blanchard) here:

A Sushi Conveyor Belt in Trastevere

OK, I'd heard of these, but never seen one. I didn't figure I'd see my first in Rome. Pardon the very rough soundtrack editing:

Le Catacombe S. Callisto

A few facts, as reported by our guide through the catacombs: They were used from 2nd to 5th Centuries AD, these by the Christians, but 7 of Rome's ~50 known catacombs were Jewish. Those of S. Callisto are notable for being the most extensive, with >20k of corridors. According to the guide, in the three centuries of use, some 500,000 people were buried there. In a section on the second of its four levels is a room which once held the remains of nine early popes (though they antedate the term "pope"). Not far from there is the traditional grave of St. Cecilia (a 2nd Century martyr) and a copy of Stefano Maderno's sculpture depicting the supposed position of her uncorrupted body when her tomb was opened in 1595. I like the sculpture a lot.

Photos from the day, the walk:
Porta San Sebastiano, which opens onto Via Appia Antica A field of poppies close to the catacombs. The catacomb entrance.

Day in Tivoli

Today we chartered a bus to Tivoli and spent the morning in the gardens of the Villa d'Este.

Afterwards, we explored Tivoli on our own a little bit. Sadie and I found this abandoned factory:

The Keats/Shelley House

This little museum is one of the least interesting in Rome, I'd guess, though it has a certain sentimental value. It also has value as a research library for people who do Keats scholarship. But we just spent twenty minutes poking around here, yesterday.

Having visited once before, I decided to find just a single theme to focus on. I picked the three masks they keep.

This a carnival mask that Lord Byron wore:

This is a copy of Keats's death mask:

And this mask was made of Keats when he was still living:

Ostia Antica

Here are my favorite photos from today's field trip to Ostia Antica, Rome's ancient port:

Booklist Update

I've read Dealer's Choice cover to cover. The gem was Leslie Charteris's "A Mug's Game," which is a story about Simon Templar, "The Saint," who appeared in the 1997 movie, The Saint starring Val Kilmer. But I also enjoyed the pieces by O. Henry, W. Somerset Maugham, Jennings Perry, Quentin Reynolds, and Jame Thurber.

I was pleased with how quickly I adjusted to reading about five card draw, instead of hold'em. In fact, not one story in the book mentions Texas hold'em, though many of the stories get on the case of all sorts of wild games that I've never heard of. But in the '40s and '50s, it was five card draw, five card stud, and seven stud (with variations). Poker culture changes.

I have also finished Small Gods and run across the phrase "small gods" in Horace Gregory's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses. There, Zeus describes himself as "protector / Of nymphs, fauns, satyrs, and small gods who wander / The village street, down lanes, up shaded hills..." This role spurs Zeus's decision to flood the world an erase man's evil.

Finally, I've read Gibran's The Prophet, a book of flowery language but much thought.

Rome Booklist

I'm packing the following for fun:

1. The Chrysanthemums and Other Stories (John Steinbeck)
2. Madame de Treymes (Edith Wharton)
3. The Prophet (Kahlil Gibran)
4. The Judgement and In the Penal Colony (Franz Kafka)
5. The Beauty of the Husband (Anne Carson)
6. The Dead Father (Donald Barthelme)
7. The Branch Will Not Break (James Wright)
8. Story of O (Pauline Réage)
9. Quiet Days in Clichy (Henry Miller)
10. Small Gods (Terry Pratchett)
11. Dealer's Choice (ed. Jerry D. Lewis)

A Roma

I leave for Rome tomorrow. Look here for photos, maybe anecdotes.

Book Lists

I've recently read the following:

• Bad Behavior (short stories by Mary Gaitskill)
• The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America (Michelle Tea)
• Gigi Collette
• The Devil's Larder (linked short-shorts by Jim Crace)
• Rooney's Shorts (William Rooney)
• The Neverending Story (Michael Ende)
• The Delta of Venus (Anais Nin)
• The Man Suit (poems by Zachary Schomburg)
• Wind in a Box (poems, Terrance Hayes)
• the autobiography of a jukebox (poems, Cornelius Eady)
• The Fifth Head of Cerberus (Gene Wolfe)
• The Devil and Daniel Webster (Steven Vincent Benét)

I'm still in the middle of these:

• Little Birds (Anais Nin)
• Against Nature (Joris-Karl Huysmans)
• The Nightingales of Troy (Alice Fulton)

I am trying to give away these titles, because I have duplicates:

• Season of Migration to the North (Tayeb Salih)
• Light in August (William Faulkner)
• The Ambassadors (Henry James)
• The 480 (Eugene Burdick)
• Fail Safe (Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler)
• The Tempest (William Shakespeare)
• The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan)
• Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
• Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
• Sons and Lovers (D.H. Lawrence)
• Everything is Illuminated (Jonathan Safran Foer)