Art: Alfred Krupa
If not me, who then
who will herald the red dawn?
You know, Belovèd,
how secretly i’ve waited
for the brightening of our days
Brightening Of Days (https://www.edocr.com/v/vmoq4ml0/gabrielrosenstock/brightening-of-days) is an e-book of bilingual ekphrastic tanka (5-7-5-7-7 syllables) in Irish, English and Croatian. Irish poet, haikuist, tankaist, novelist, playwright, essayist, children’s author, short story writer and translator Gabriel Rosenstock responds to the to artwork by Alfred Krupa, a Croatian contemporary painter, master draughtsman, book artist, art photographer and art teacher. Krupa is a pioneering force in the New Ink Art movement, known for its minimalism and intensity, an international movement rooted in contemporary reality with origins in the Far East.
Inspired by Krupa's art, Rosenstock creates beautiful and moving poetry directed towards the subject of his thoughts; his Belovèd. Like Krupa's art, Rosenstock's poems are minimalistic and profound. They describe the cosmic bond poet has with his muse which encompasses his whole being.
When on wintry nights
the boat fills up with moonlight
i think, Belovèd,
of our voyage together
before we reached this new world
Rosenstock understands that the infinite cycle of death and rebirth (or samsara) is an inevitable part of the journey he shares with the one he loves, so he welcomes it as it brings spiritual progress.
i am being restored
they’re putting me together
i’ll be good as new
then i’ll fall apart again
when the time comes, Belovè
Because they contain his innermost thoughts and feelings, Rosenstock's poems are like small gifts to readers who seek to understand what inspires an artist to create. After he releases them into the world, he accepts that they belong to the readers. But they were intended for, and inspired by his Belovèd, and she needs no explanation, she knows.
i’ll give them my songs
let the circus have them now
i’ve no use for them
feed them to lions and tigers
or let the clowns juggle them
