On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 08:28:53 EDT, Christina Fletcher <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>I'm terribly intrigued to know whether or not this is true.  Of course, I
>know it's not the point but it's almost impossible for me to imagine that
it's
>not.  Again, it's tremendously touching and the simplicity of Resia's poem
is
>profoundly painful.  Perhaps that's the sort of economy we should all aim
for?
>bw
>christina
>
>> The room was redolent of oranges,
>> rich with the zest of torn peel.
>> Resia, ALS-imprisoned
>> almost choked on her own saliva.
>> I swabbed her mouth,
>> massaged her meagre limbs
>> with baby oil.
>> Mewing, she bade me take
>> the hated letter board.
>> A flicker of her eye-lid
>> assented to my choice of letter.
>> And so we wrote her last poem:
>>
>> “A boy eats oranges beneath my window.
>> His fingers tear the peel.
>> His mouth is full of juice.
>> Please, do not close my window yet.â€
>>
>>
>> note: ALS means Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ; also called MND (motor-
>> neuron disease) or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
>>
>
>

dear Christina
Thankyou for your answers to both this and a previous post.
re ANTIDORA  : my name derives from Greek and was also used as a mediaeval
theological-juridical term. In the othodox church it is the consecrated
bread that the faithful may take at the end of the service for the elderly,
ill or bed-ridden. In the Middle Ages it was a sort of gentleman's
agreement, a free and friendly exchange of goods and services without
interest: the opposite of usury, in fact. It has sometimes been considered
ridiculous, but I have never considered it ugly.
re RESIA : she was my best friend, a woman of great intelligence and
sensibilty. An excellent poet; the poem within the poem here is my first
timid attempt at translation of her wonderful verse. She was an
orientalist, associate of the Istituto di Studi Orientali di Napoli.
Particularly an arabist, specialized in the history, architecture and
poetry of the Caliphate of Cordoba.
best wishes
antidora