poverty

Pier Paolo Pasolini – To my country/Alla mia nazione

Pietro Longhi, The Tooth Puller (Il cavadenti), c.1750 Not an Arab people, not a Balkan people, not an ancient people but a living nation, a European nation, and what are you? A land of babies, starving, corrupt, politicians working for landowners, reactionary governors, petty lawyers with slicked-back hair and smelly feet, free-market bureaucrats mean as …

Pier Paolo Pasolini – To my country/Alla mia nazione Read More »

Osip Mandelstam – Non sono ancora morto / I’m still alive

Victor Borisov-Musatov, Slumber divine, 1904 I’m still alive: I’m still not alone,  with a beggar-woman beside me  I take delight in the huge empty zone,  the haze, the blizzards, and the freeze. In beautiful poverty, luxurious distress,  living alone – consoled, and quietly –  these days, these nights, are blessed,  and innocent labour echoes sweetly. …

Osip Mandelstam – Non sono ancora morto / I’m still alive Read More »