Thanks to a donation from marina_bonomi, there are 5 new verses in " The Lost and Found Legion."  This poem belongs to The Silk Road Allies.

When Matteo Ricci  came to China
It wasn’t that novel a thing.
People had been coming and going
For just about fifteen centuries
Carrying luggage and beliefs
Trading goods and ideas
No, it wasn’t that big a novelty.

The man himself, though
That was another story.
He was devout in earnest, yes;
He wanted to spread his Good News, yes.
But he wanted to ( Read more... )

I've posted a poem, " When Mountains Move," in my blog for the folks on the Contributors list.  It picks up on some earlier discussions of how China views homosexuality in the context of family obligations, and what kind of pressure might lead to recognizing homosexual marriages and adoption.

Over on my blog, tuftears suggested the idea of a game based in The Silk Road Allies setting.  I think that has a lot of potential, though it would probably benefit from further development of the timeline before we tackle a project this complex.  I have pretty good familiarity with tabletop roleplaying and game design.  And while we're on the topic of ( Read more... )

Andrea Ferrari (1) (Roma 1956 -        )

A  Zhang Wei (2)

Ille mihi par esse deos videtur

Ille, si fas est, superare divos

Qui sedens adversum identidem te

Spectat et audit (3)

Sorridevo alle pene d’amore

Di Saffo e Catullo

Torturarsi, supplicare per uno sguardo

Non io!

Cupido rideva beffardo ai miei vanti

Sapeva.

Incrociare i tuoi occhi una volta

È bastato.

Il ( Read more... )

I went ahead and announced thesilkroadallies on my blog and in crowdfunding.  If you can think of other places to mention it, go ahead.

Augustus Ottavianus , the first of the emperors,
found a Rome of mud, turned it into marble.

Tiberius hereafter left it altogether,
Retiring in Capri, between cliffs and sea.

Caligula, third, he of the army sandals,
His favorite horse he made a senator.

The army (1) then made his uncle imperator,
‘an idiot’ they said, but Claudius had survived .

Then Nero ( Read more... )

Here are some proposed collaboration parameters for The Silk Road Allies project ...

( Read more... )

This morning, wild geese went East,

At dawn they broke my sleep.

Restless, I can’t dream again,

Alone, I think of Chang’an (2).

Notes

(1) Anonymous poem found in the archives of the Chinese embassy in Italy.
(2) Chang’an (长安 ‘Perpetual peace’, modern day Xi’an 西安 ‘Western peace’), was the capital of more than 10 Chinese dynasties, during its heyday it ( Read more... )

They tried it on him, the two Parthian brothers.

The older spoke first, in sorrowful tones:

“This sea, o my friend, is so vast and large,

With terrible storms, and many hidden dangers;

It may take years  to cross it at all”.

Then spoke the younger, with honeyed words:

“ This we say to you  in token of friendship,

Your faraway lord, no matter how wise,

( Read more... )