A list of beautiful things #6
The poet's choice
Two very short poems that ponder how we live our lives: No Explosions and Elegy
I was overcome with the power of this final poem at the end of the essay “One By One, My Friends Were Sent To The Camps,” by the Uyghur poet Tahir Hamut Izgil in The Atlantic. In five parts, Izgil chronicles the events in China that led him and his family to flee the United States. For the poem to land, you must read his entire accounting. It’s worth it.
How you view yourself versus the people who love you
“To burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life:” How this short story on the beauty of mediocrity begins.
I rewatched Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Would you make the lover’s choice? Or the poet’s choice?
Dinner party decor idea from the 19th century: Line the edges of the table with soft green leaves from the garden.
I’ve been listening to this song over and over — what is amazing about it is its construction: two pianos, one playing a delayed repetition of the other, based on the rhythm of the word “Hallelujah.” I first heard it on the soundtrack of Call Me By Your Name.
And some little things from me