In order for me to write poetry that isn’t political,
I must listen to the birds
and in order to hear the birds
the warplanes must be silent

Marwan Makhoul

لكي أكتب شعرًا ليس سياسيًّا يجب
أن أصغي إلى العصافير،
ولكي أسمع العصافير يجب
أن تَخرس الطّائرة
مروان مخول

(via https://postersforpalestine.org/)

Doing research for a story is a great way to learn random things. Such as, Papua New Guinea has 832 living languages; Indonesia has more than 700, and Malaysia 137.

TIL, ジャガ芋 "jaga-imo", the word for potato in Japanese, is called that because it was introduced to Japan (in 1598) by a Dutch ship coming from Jakarta, which is ジャガタラ "jagatara" or ジャカトラ "jakatora", "Jakatra", although it was actually called Jayakarta at the time.

#JapaneseLanguage #history

these days you can define yourself through the goods you don't own, the services you don't subscribe too, the foods you don't eat and so on. Defining yourself through absence. A bit like the negative space in a drawing.

A lonely late apple
#photography
#autumn

@toneji

Could you help me please? In this haiku (from Kefukigusa), what is the meaning of 軒の妻?

松の木の雪やはや消ゆ軒の妻

I finished a new large #watercolour #drawing. It's probably the most detailed drawing I ever made.

The main figure in the drawing is based on a picture I took at the Gion Matsuri in #Kyoto some years ago. It is a dancer performing the old Japanese court dance "Ran-Ryo-O".

I used Derwent Inktense and Conté Aquaralle pencils as well as watercolour paint (various brands). The paper is Arches 56cmx76cm 300g/m2 rough watercolour paper.

#art #mastoart