Purveyors of fine poetry since 2003.
“Amnesia is the soul of wit.” – Abdul-Walid On the orders of its unelected leader, the beleaguered posts of Acerbia are about to undergo a Structural Adjustment Program. There is no Universal Declaration on Blogging Rights, no legal basis for charges of blogicide. “I am the state,” Louis XIV famously declared. Abdul-Walid recently entertained a …
The versatile Abdul-Walid of Acerbia has posted two translations from the Yoruba at oncaesura. As long-time readers may remember, I have a special fondness for Yoruba folk poetry and Ifa divination hymns, especially as translated by Ulli Beier in a couple of long out-of-print volumes. Though inevitably much of the word-play and musical effects of …
Gwari women in the Sahel (photo by Abdul-Walid) “What is wrong, my love? It is you I love. Do not be angry, do not cry. Do not be sad because of love.” – Ali Farka Toure, “Diaraby” I was in Ghent last week when I heard that Ali Farka Toure had died. I was calm …
Dear Friends, Well, Via Negativa is two years old now. I knew the birthday was coming up sometime around the solstice, but I missed it: it was last Saturday. And here I’d been assiduously taking notes for a “year in review” post (which, I see, I avoided doing in the first birthday post). Nuts. Well, …
Dear Emily, I was glad to hear about your new incarnation as an advice columnist. I’m confused. If I turned over a new leaf, would I stay just as green? If I look on the bright side, won’t I need shades? If I just do it, can I get out of having to think? If …
After rain, a dry high blows in, bringing such clarity that one can see the tiniest gnats dancing in the sun. It was days like this that used to make me feel the most anguished, back in the days before my heart shrank to the approximate size and durability of a black walnut. You can …
The end of racism. Abdul-Walid writes feelingly about being black and not encountering significant racism in his adopted country of “Acerbia.” But he also misses something else in his chosen academic field: other African Americans. Even African-American literary studies, where arguably the biggest strides in African-American scholarship have been made, is characterized more by boosterism …
by Liu Zongyuan (773-819) We gather at the Jetavana Sunset Pavilion, immerse ourselves in drinking meditation. The mist gives way to darkness. Water laps against the steps. The blossom-laden trellis glows in the moonlight. Never let your exhaustion show to Venerable Inebriation. One glance and it’s clear which heads have yet to turn white. __________ …
Continue reading “Night drinking at the western pavilion of the Flower of the Dharma Temple”
[S]he sold beer by the single bottle alone. She gave you a bottle, you gave her a shilling. She gave you another bottle, you gave her another shilling. Abdul-Walid “What am I?” Only asking this question and letting go of the cycle of chasing after outside things means to cut off all our craving. When …