About the Book
The Day Barque is a review of poetry, prose and works of art exploring the age-old quest for the divinity within. It focuses on the moment-to-moment struggle to connect with that which is timeless and eternal while being bound by time in an earthly body.
The Day Barque is published bi-annually by the Apollo Poetry Society in the foothills of Northern California. The Day Barque contains poems, stories, paintings, drawings, and other works of art from contributors worldwide, all of whom are actively involved in the effort of being present, also known as self-remembering, mindfulness, self-inquiry, prayer of the heart, and know thyself, among many other names.
Our central theme-the journey of the seeker to awaken from sleep-is that at the heart of all the world's great traditions, including Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Sufi, Egyptian, Mesoamerican, Stoic, Platonic, Non-Dualist, the Fourth Way, as well as the principal subject of the world's epics, myths, and fairy tales. In this fifth issue (Volume 3 - Number 2), we feature contributions from poets, writers, and artists from Rome, Athens, Moscow, Istanbul, London, Prague, Ahmedabad, Cairo, and Apollo, California.
Here is a poem by Joep Jilesen from this issue:
Seas of Air
Can a pear fall without bruising?
Eat it then with eyes closed.
Equally Mont-Saint-Michel cannot be reached
Unless seated on shoulders of fishermen.
Fishermen, who gaze out to seas of wind
-Powered mills, which turn brackish vapors
faster and faster, make sea foam climb
Higher than breasts. Can Lucy look at herself without blushing?
Spiraling hurricanes cannot undo her cloud
-stretching, ready to reach the marble pinnacle
With her lips.
A poem by Judith Grace from this issue:
The Delightful Improbability of Dining Alone
Stirring the greens carefully seasoning them
Arranging them
On the white plate
Shall I light a candle?
Lay out a cloth?
Placing a rose from the bush
into the slender vase
Sitting down with myself
My own beloved now
All my old loves far behind
About the Author:
Judith Grace is a poet, editor, screenwriter, and playwright. For many years she was the English-language editor of the Italian art magazine FMR in Milan and translated numerous books for FMR from Italian, including Wendigen (1986). She is author of Goodbye My Fancy, about the last months of Walt Whitman's life, published by Ulysses Books in 2003, which was produced as a play in 2004 and 2005. She also wrote The Conference of the Birds, produced in 2003 and Gaiety, Revelry, Radiance, produced in 1996. Among her many publications is the literary magazine Lyra.
Stefano Petrizzo is a poet and translator. His poems have appeared in local literary magazines. His translation work includes 13th century Italian poets and an adaptation of Iphigeneia at Aulis which was performed on stage in Northern California by Apollo Performing Arts. He is currently pursuing an M.F.A in poetry at Antioch University, Los Angeles.
