TOM CLARK: Now do you understand why they choose the sea?

Douma: image via Orient @OrientNews, 31 October 2015

Joseph Ceravolo: Street Wise Romantic

...................... December 7, 1984

The streets are empty and still,
between the red time,
then start again.
The farms are disappearing as I noticed
years ago along this old route.
Now the farms lie beneath
hotels, office complexes whose beauty
is beyond the senses
in some economic power fortified
by the delusions of power and inequity.
But the farms are lying beneath
and large poisonous plants
fusing the electrical circuits beneath.
Now there's no death to evil,
it rises again, now in war, now in bucks

now in land, now in power,

it rises up forever until the end,

when the light may intercede and remain.

Seek refuge in the fantasy

into one other fantasy.

We see violence done on subways on streets

but we don't see violence done

in a new class system or economic twist.

Does it murder just as well?

Nothing can be done.

It will go on and on

until the intercessions of the sun.

Everything has failed, and will,
but the innocence of youth

and the momentum of dawn.

Joeph Ceravolo (1934-1988): Street Wise Romantic (December 7, 1984), from Collected Poems, 2012

Doctors and paramedics try to revive a child, after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk, in Lesbos: image via Angelos Tzortzinis @atzortzinis, 29 October 2015

image - 02: photo by J Perez, 17 October 2015

Reality and fiction (Stockholm): photo by Jimmy Dovholt, 25 November 2010

Electricity (El Cerrito, California): photo by efo, 8 February 2014

#newark #nj #blackandwhite #grainy #gritty #streetphotography #mobilephotography #blackberryq10 | by StrangeGoodness

#newark #nj #blackandwhite #grainy #gritty #streetphotography #mobilephotography #blackberry10: photo by J Perez, 15 August 2015

IMG_20150820_161546_1_edit1 | by StrangeGoodness

IMG_20150820_161546_1_edit1: photo by J Perez, 20 August 2015

Now there's no death to evil

U.S. to put first boots on the ground in #Syria: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 30 October 2015

The nullification of humanity! #Douma #Syria: image via AEJ @AEJKhalil, 1 November 2015

#Douma massacred again: At least 70 killed; 550 injured in air strike on marketplace #Syria: image via Fadi Al-Qadi @fqadi, 31 October 2015

Standing tall and facing it all... #PutinAssadCrimes #Syria: image via Revolution Syria @RevolutionSyria, 31 October 2015

Syrians are fighting a fierce battle for truth, freedom & justice against so many enemies inside & outside #Syria: image via Revolution Syria @RevolutionSyria, 31 October 2015

A Syrian man buys boiled corn in the rebel-held area of Douma on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria: photo by Mohammed Badra/EPA via The Guardian, 1 November 2015

SYRIA - A family sits inside their underground shelter in Aleppo. By Karam Al-Masri #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 30 October 2015

Dead comet with skull face to hurtle by Earth on Halloween: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 31 October 2015

via MSF Sea @MSF_Sea, 31 October 2015:

MSF Sea Retweeted Jason Cone

In #Syria not only are civilians shelled but rescuers are attacked. Now do you understand why they choose the sea?

MSF Sea added,

Jason Cone @jtcone1977

Devastation caused by #Douma market bombing worsened by further shelling of rescue teams who were treating wounded. #Syria #EvenWarHasRules

Smoke billows from a building early on Friday, following reported shelling by Syrian government forces in the rebel-controlled area of Douma, east of Damascus: photo by Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP, 30 October 2015 [image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 30 October 2015]

Life does not resemble life

A Syrian man mourns the death of a loved one following a reported airstrike by Syrian government forces Friday on the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern edges of the capital Damascus. Anti-government activists said at least 40 were killed: photo by Sameer Al-Doumy?AFP, 30 October 2015

Rainbow coffins of the dead syria: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 30 October 2015

Life does not resemble life: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 24 October 2015

Angel Ritaj Ali Al Abdullah Al Saleh, 10 months old from #AlQuoriyeh, drowned on the way to Greece October 28 #Syria: image via AEJ @AEJKhalil, 1 November 2015

#Raqqa sky warplanes flying in Circles #IS #ISIL #ISIS: image via Raqqa_SL, 1 November 2015

#Raqqa sky when the #Russian warplanes are flying in the sky of #Raqqa: image via Raqqa_SL 1 November 2015

#Douma: image via Revolution Syria @RevolutionSyria, 31 October 2015

Syrians walk through debris following a reported air strike by Syrian government forces in the rebel-held town of Douma, east of the capital Damascus. Syrian government air strikes on a market and a hospital killed several civilians in Douma, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor and activists said. Dozens more were wounded, several seriously, and the toll is likely to rise: photo by Abd Doumany/AFP, 29 October 2015

Some children will grow up and some won't

#MigrantCrisis Migrants and refugees wait to cross the Slovenian-Austrian border in Sentilj on November 1, 2015 #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPhoto, 1 November 2015

#MigrantCrisis A man waits with other migrants and refugees to cross the Slovenian-Austrian border in Sentilj. #AFP: image via Stephanie Beauge @sbeaugeAFP, 1 November 2015

#Macedonia: Migrants & asylum seekers look out of a train heading to #Serbia from the Greek-Macedonian border: image via Talar Kalajian @TalarKala, 28 October 2015

More bodies of #refugees and #migrants washed up at beaches of #Lesbos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 1 November 2015

#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #Lesbos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015

#UPDATE 11 migrants, including 6 children, drown off Greece, say coastguards: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 1 November 2015

#Refugees and #migrants Some children will grow up and some won't.: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 1 November 2015

Rescue operation at #refugees and #migrants in #Lesbos island from Greek fishermen and Spanish lifeguards.: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

The body of a baby washed up on the shore of #Lesbos as #refugees and #migrants try to cross the Aegean sea: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

A woman holds the body of a dead baby found on the beach on the Greek island of Lesbos. Photo @ArisMessinis: image via Stéphane Arnaud @StephaneArnaud, 30 October 2015

A woman grieves over the body of a dead baby found on the beach on the Greek island of Lesbos. Photo @ArisMessinis: image via Stéphane Arnaud @StephaneArnaud, 30 October 2015

#MigrantCrisis 13 children among 22 migrants drowned off Greece. Photo @ArisMessinis #AFP: image via Stephanie Beauge @sbeaugeAFP, 30 October 2015

Boat carrying #migrants sinks off coast of Lesbos (photo Aris Messinis AFP): image via Telegraph Pictures @TelegraphPics, 30 October 2015

Refugees call for help as their boat sinks off the island of Lesbos. Photo @ArisMessinis: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 30 October 2015

#Refugees and #migrants struggle. #Lesbos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

#Turkey: Migrants & asylum seekers travel on a dinghy to the Greek island of Chios from Cesme #migrantcrisis: image via Talar Kalajian @TalarKala, 31 October 2015

One more boat with #refugees sunk in #Lesbos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 28 October 2015

A boat with more than 240 #Refugees and #migrants sunk while trying to arrive at #Lesbos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 28 October 2015

A refugee hands over a toddler to a volunteer lifeguard as a half-sunken catamaran carrying around 150 refugees, most of them Syrians, arrives after crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos...A refugee hands over a toddler to a volunteer lifeguard as a half-sunken catamaran carrying around 150 refugees, most of them Syrians, arrives after crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 30, 2015. There were no casaulties amongst the refugees who were travelling on the catamaran, according to a Reuters witness. The death toll from drownings at sea has mounted recently as weather in the Aegean has taken a turn for the worse, turning wind-whipped sea corridors into deadly passages for thousands of refugees crossing from Turkey to Greece. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis

A refugee prepares to hand over a toddler to a volunteer lifeguard as a half-sunken catamaran carrying around 150 refugees, most of them Syrians, arrives after crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos: photo by Giorgos Moutafis/Reuters, 30 October 2015

A man holds a child after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk while attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey, on October 28, 2015. At least five migrants including three children, died on October 28, 2015 after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said. The new accidents brought to 34 the number of migrants found dead in Greek waters this month, according to an AFP tally based on data from Greek port police. Since the start of the year, 560,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece by sea, out of over 700,000 who have reached Europe via the Mediterranean, according to the International Office for Migration (IOM). AFP PHOTO / ANGELOS TZORTZINISANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP/Getty Images

A man holds a child after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk while attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey on Thursday. At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece: photo by Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP, 29 October 2015

[untitled]: photo by J Perez, 17 October 2015

8 comments:

Unknown1 November 2015 at 23:54
The mind reels... the heart finds ever further depths in the most oblivious details... Tyrant thugs are already deeply encased in iron. Tender souls are dizzying the sea.

And on Ye, Tom and Angelica, blessings.
L'Enfant de la Haute Mer2 November 2015 at 01:33
Doctors and paramedics try to revive a child, after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk, in LesVos: image via Angelos Tzortzinis @atzortzinis, 29 October 2015 .
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More bodies of #refugees and #migrants washed up at beaches of #LesVos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 1 November 2015
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More bodies of #refugees and #migrants washed up at beaches of #LesVos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 1 November 2015
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#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #LesVos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015
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#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #LesVos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015
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#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #LesVos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015
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#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #LesVos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015
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#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #LesVos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015
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#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #LesVos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015
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#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #LesVos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015
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#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #LesVos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015
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#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #LesVos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015

Rescue operation at #refugees and #migrants in #LesVos island from Greek fishermen and Spanish lifeguards.: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

Rescue operation at #refugees and #migrants in #LesVos island from Greek fishermen and Spanish lifeguards.: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

Rescue operation at #refugees and #migrants in #LesVos island from Greek fishermen and Spanish lifeguards.: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

The body of a baby washed up on the shore of #LesVos as #refugees and #migrants try to cross the Aegean sea: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

A woman holds the body of a dead baby found on the beach on the Greek island of LesVos. Photo @ArisMessinis: image via Stéphane Arnaud @StephaneArnaud, 30 October 2015

A woman grieves over the body of a dead baby found on the beach on the Greek island of LesVos. Photo @ArisMessinis: image via Stéphane Arnaud @StephaneArnaud, 30 October 2015

Boat carrying #migrants sinks off coast of LesVos (photo Aris Messinis AFP): image via Telegraph Pictures @TelegraphPics, 30 October 2015

Refugees call for help as their boat sinks off the island of LesVos. Photo @ArisMessinis: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 30 October 2015

#Refugees and #migrants struggle. #LesVos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

...and so on.....
billoo2 November 2015 at 02:49
There is something almost Biblical in these pictures, Tom.
Hazen2 November 2015 at 07:07
Tom, Cerovolo brings both truth and beauty this morning. The photos—well, one sometimes just has to turn away . . . a sort of reflexive survival mechanism, I guess. The irony in that doesn’t go unnoticed, either.
Hilton2 November 2015 at 09:50
Joe's poem, understated, blasts out in the photos. Horrible, on a daily basis, farms covered over with rubble, not even asphalt, death beyond death. And I fear this is just the beginning of worldwide calamity.
TC2 November 2015 at 10:42
Only the beginning... indeed.

Anyone with a heart to feel with and eyes to see will have understood by now that the denial of safe passage to refugees by the tyrant thugs in business suits has wrought cruel human consequences.

The natural and rational response, of course, is to look away, if one can.

The scale of this catastrophe renders all relatively minor matters like spelling, orthography and transliteration irrelevant.

Respect, above all, is called for.

In attempting to bear witness across the abyss of worlds, it's important to disrespect no one.

To start with, please let us not bicker once again over trivia, my dear L'Enfant.

OK. In Greece, Lesvos is called Lesvos.

Out here in not-Greece it's called Lesbos.

Photographers and journalists documenting this tragedy have generally observed that latter custom.

Aris Messinis is Greek. He is an international photojournalist who has borne witness to several wars. When his photos taken on Lesvos are captioned as coming from "Lesbos" by the international news agency for which he is employed -- he's now Athens bureau chief for Agence France-Presse -- there arises the question of whether to follow the Greek (proper) spelling, or the international (improper) spelling. as given by the news agency releasing the photos.

I've tried it both ways.

The issue of spelling and transliteration, however, is finally, a petty one.

The tragedy of the sinking boats, on the other hand, not petty, however its name is spelt.

In this piece from a German publication, the location is given as "Lesbos":

Wieder Dutzende Tote im Mittelmeer | Europa, warum lässt du die Kinder sterben? (Europe, Why are you letting the children die?), von PETER TIEDE (in Lesbos, Griechenland), Bild, 29.10.2015

In this piece by a young journalist from London who happened to find herself caught up in the impossible rescue, the location is given as "Lesvos":

Marienna Pope-Weidemann: from The Sinking of the Nameless: Recollections of a Volunteer/Journalist, 29 October 2015

The final thought left with us by Ms. Pope-Weidemann -- "What we really need, is safe passage for the refugees. Now." -- is also the only one that really matters.
Lally2 November 2015 at 14:24
amen Tom, once again the juxtaposition of poetry with images overwhelms with the power of the creative act to at least witness the reality of tragic history being made (if not change it, as so many have said before me, despite all our attempts to do so and the successes in the moment nonetheless)...
TC10 November 2015 at 15:31
Michael,

Maybe -- can it be? -- that as difficult as it is to honestly witness the real -- and awful (!) -- state of things, doing so is also, in some mysterious way not yet disclosed to us, to change it?

I mean, at least by offering the minimal contribution (i.e. huge work) of staying approximately conscious...

Sunday, 1 November 2015

Now do you understand why they choose the sea?

8 comments: