Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Alexandra leaving *



She used to be a beautiful woman: not only fair but charming and deeply intelligent. A woman you would and could never forget.

She left life early, young and radiant.

Now she is a ship, sailing the open sea. Her beloved only son commands it, and sleeps nights in her womb.

________________________________________________


* With sounds by Leonard Cohen and words from C. P. Cavafy.

30 comments:

athanasia said...

"As someone long prepared for this to happen,
Go firmly to the window. drink it in.
Exquisite music. alexandra laughing.
Your firm commitments tangible again.

And you who had the honor of her evening,
And by the honor had your own restored
Say goodbye to alexandra leaving;
Alexandra leaving with her lord."

MainMenu said...

doodler why do people think of ships as female? i'd like to read your thoughts on this...thanks:)

Δημήτρης ηλεκτρολόγος said...

Alexandra leaving…

Always leaving and come back again…

Always …

doodler said...

mainly in English, mainmenu, mainly in English...

Un bateau
Ein Schiff

MainMenu said...

indeed...u lazy...:)

Dion.M. said...

We love our cars and we have some personal relation with them. However, we never give names to them.

On the contrary we always give names to yachts and sailers, and we give them names of our beloved persons usually. Why?

An explanation could be that we look our cars as an extension of ourselves while, on the other hand, we consider yachts as comrades, we need in the open sea.

Perhaps, some times we sail to the open see in order to be alone with our beloved comrades… Perhaps...

As a conclusion, the “perfect ride” must be different in the open sea than the “perfect ride” on the road. It must be more esoteric… more philosophical…

azrael said...

The good doodler is refering to an actual person , not a boat... Search in his don blog for a post about Alexandra. (I wont link it here. Not as subtle as doodler wants it)

Anyway, Kali Protomagia Doodler!

There is a beautifull park near my home called "Tritsis Park". You should visit it someday. I will be there in a while...

tam-tam-tam said...

I never lost someone I was so close.Of course,I was about to leave once...That event helped me realise that even to myself I wasn't close.I was rather against it.So,I came back,wanting to be closer to myself,wanting to be free.These two,often,seem to be against one another..It's so difficult to see when that really happens!A song says:
"...we want to be free,
yet we have no idea,
what we are struggling here..."
* How about that?In a country where men think that they are the ones handling a boat's trip,the ones commanding it,ships can be thought of as female.Ignoring the fact that the ship "decides" finally,when they all sink("happily") or when they fly through the open seas(happily)

Anonymous said...

A boat is a prison with the possibility of drowning...just like life...

...Just kidding!

tam-tam-tam said...

What I meant was "WHY we are struggling" not "WHAT we are struggling"!And some other "articulation" problems :)
A "semantic" one is that I meant that “MOST OF THEM think they are the ONLY ONES that…“ (not “they think they are the ONES that…”!) and I was ONLY referring to the misfortune of being a female from such a country... But my comment was also misfortunate, cause we are too accustomed to see this misfortune as a fortune :S
I guess,life “oversees” us all...Water waves,winds even a butterfly’s flying affects a boat’s trip ot its’ tripping(according to chaos theory) But,whatever happens to the boat,isn’t it behaviour that matters?I mean I ‘ll never forget di Caprio’s behaviout while Titanic was sinking .The first time I saw the beauty in him that everyone was talking about(ok,I was in my teens so I’m exaggerating a bit…“No offence Leo!”)!

Anonymous said...

Could we start again...

It's not a blog,
it's an adventure...

And a succesful one,like the peacemaking campaign in Iraq...

Ars longa, vita brevis said...

@tam

what is behaviout ? french?

just j/k!!!:P


yes, how can one remains close to herself, maybe life is a struggle trip of every being to find himself/herself

but no, most of them seek to find 'their other half' lol.

tam-tam-tam said...

@seena
No,it's not french...it's from Timbuktu! :)
I can't define my behaviour because I have hard time in defining myself.Can you?I mean,can you define..."you"?And if so,don't you just constrain it?How can one find him/herself otherwise?The other half most of the times leads me to even more constraint and that's anything but freedom.Any other suggestions?I don't know,maybe definitions is the only way.

Churchwarden said...

Concerning the Καβάφη Poem, it is said that the poet sympathizes with Antonio. I've always believed the opposite. The poet hates Antonio's guts. In that poem, Alexandra is Sodoma & Gomora-and Antonio is a twisted existence, sorry for losing it.

irlandos said...

Dear friend,

Nice to find you again
So sorry to learn about Alexandra

Yesterday is history
Tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift
That’s why we call it:"the present"

Irish Saying

irlandos said...

P.S. Pity I missed the chance to comment on your post about the miracle of beauty.
I would have defended iguanas.

I wander, what would you have done in the imaginary dilemma (mentioned in a previous post of yours) of choosing between an expensive painting or a cat, to save from a burning house, if instead of the cat was an iguana …

doodler said...

@irlandos

Difficult dilemma.... but I think I would opt for the painting...

(I communicate more with a painting than with an iguana...)

irlandos said...

Hmm...
I thought that "saving life" would be the criterion for your decision and the motive of your action. So I thought that you will go for the living being, any living being.

But the argument of communication is very interesting. A cat can express its fear (or desperation in this case) so that it can be understood and helped by a caring human. An iguana probably would fail to do that.
In my view, so would the painting.

However, I believe that many times it is easier to save an iguana in distress, than a cat (ha, ha, ha).

doodler said...

@irlandos

life has many forms... What about saving cockroaches?

irlandos said...

@ doodler

This is an interesting case indeed.
In fact, I also like to mention the example of the cockroach and that of the mosquito, to those who claim that they love ALL animals.

My personal answer to the question you raised is that I wouldn’t risk my life for a cockroach. Actually, if the building was not on fire and I was living in it, I would probably try to kill the cockroach myself !!

It is very natural I think, to consider the death of certain animals, weather for food or in order to defend ourselves from their parasitic behavior. This doesn’t mean that I do not respect life in general or these very animals. As far as cockroaches and mosquitoes are concerned, I prefer to refer to them as "parasites" and never as vermin. And let me clarify that I strongly disagree with the killing of any animal for fun, for "sport" or as a "hobby".

In my daily life I don’t kill and I try to limit the meat I eat, knowing that it means the death of certain animals.

And sometimes, I can not help but admire the adaptability and survival skills of the poor cockroach.

doodler said...

..."poor" cockroach! They will inherit the earth!

irlandos said...

"Blessed are the meek and the poor for they shall inherit the Earth"
(ha, ha, ha !!)

Ars longa, vita brevis said...

i heard on church radio the story of a hermit who was shuttered emotionaly after killing a mosquito.(major laughs...)

tam-tam-tam said...

So,one saves a mosquito or an iguana or maybe someone from his species(a human).What for?An utter goal to save the soul?
Let's say that the behavior(*) towards the living being(the one that he/she helped to save) changes after the "saving" and because of the "saving",like: "I proved my love now I can treat you as I want".
How do you receive such a "present"?
@seena
I'd like to believe that the hermit will pass this certain test in the "judgement hour"!

* finally got this word right!I've corrected this "behavior"...

irlandos said...

tam-tam-tam said
I'd like to believe that the hermit will pass this certain test in the "judgement hour"

-------------

Not if the "Judge" is a mosquito (ha, ha, ha).

Then again, who can prove that He (or She) isn’t one ?

(Sorry, that was perhaps a bit sacrilegious)

irlandos said...

tam-tam-tam said
"I proved my love now I can treat you as I want".
How do you receive such a "present"?

-------------------

Sorry, I didn’t get your question (!?)

Aphrodite said...

Life is all a big "sailing the open sea".

Who can or -should for that matter- judge who's to embark and who's left out?

Tsk tsk tsk... the first blog toying with a blog-o-karma!!!

On the other hand, it's the first blog like... like doodles on a mausoleum!

Chirpy, sad, bubbly, melancholic, pondering little doodles.. with all sorts of pencil, ink or spray on marble...

-chuckle-

Ahoy my friends, everyone on board!

tam-tam-tam said...

Isn't it truly sacrilegious when we play the role of judges for others?Your comment didn't feel like that.You didn't judge the hermit nor his feelings(bad,sad,mad...).You only implied that he will cofront his consiousness.Maybe...
You say: "Not if the "Judge" is a mosquito (ha, ha, ha). "
That feels more sacrilegious to me, since a mosquito is hardly conscious...I personally take your comments,as black humor!Hahaha :)
You used the word "present" in the sense of a "gift" and in the sense of the "now".I did the same.I only hinted for the present that I encounter,in case someone has faced anything similar.You don't have to understand it if it's not familiar,it makes no sense eitherway.

Ars longa, vita brevis said...

forget about it people, its just a freaky annoying mosquito! i kill thousands every summer

Ars longa, vita brevis said...

first to ask 'sorry' from Doodler since this is so irrelevant to the post's content

ON THE MOSQUITO

a little reaseach gave me this: άγιος Σιλουανός ο Αθωνίτης (1866-1938) λυπόταν μέχρι δακρύων για μια μύγα που πάτησε, για τις νυχτερίδες που ζεμάτισε, για ένα φίδι που σφάδαζε''

trans: Saint Siluanos Athonitis was as sad as to cry over a fly he stepped on, for bats he scalded, a snake he slaughtered

(taken from a blog that has removed the text it seems, cause google gives still points there but i didnt found it)

the name of the mosquito killer saint is Abbas Pahomilos (maybe, im not sure as i heard it over radio)

and this is the FINAL note on this... extremely funny topic:)