(Image property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. All Rights Reserved)
«Yaya», what we call our grandmothers (here in Spain). In Greek it meant literally «woman», in Turkish it means «sidewalk», in Brasil and in the Congo it means a woman who has gone through a religious initiation. I heard it a lot in New Orleans, without having an idea of what it meant, or perhaps it had those same religious connotations as the religion of New Orleans is very similar to the ones in Brasil and Congo. In any event, without giving it any religious or other meanings, I liked the sound of the word and I wrote a song and recorded it with my band SimonBodo (in 1999), later with my new band (2000) The Abstract Jazz Arrangement, aka AJA…
(Imagen propiedad de FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios València. Derechos Reservados)
El mar es el espejo de las luces de la noche
de las caras clandestinas
de los besos y
le hace eco al
murmullo indiferente
de un te amo pasajero…
Y dos palmas silenciosas
bailan al ritmo del viento
mirando al cielo
sin miedo,.
Se enfrentan al desafío
de estar entre tal gentío
y seguir siendo tan verde…
Naturaleza entre tragos,
entre tapas.
entre olivas,
y entre la madre que archiva
la mirada de su crío
en las arrugas amargas
de su corazón ya frío
sentada junto a las palmas.
C.2022, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 20 de agosto de 2022, València, España 🇪🇸
Nota Bene:
A veces estamos disfrutando de la noche, junto al mar, saltando de bar en bar entre gente maja, elegante, disfrutando del derecho que les da el dinero para comer, beber, divertirse.
Pero si desvías la mirada y la apartas momentáneamente de los “beautiful people” vas a ver, en los rincones oscuros y sucios, ya un poco alejado de la alegría de los bares, a los pobres, a los marginados y a los que sufren…
(Image property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. All Rights Reserved)
This blind man can’t find fire in the ashes
cold and dry,
no goodbyes, no more desire,
this is the night before our day
and while we listen to far away sky rumbling,
orphan thunder in the sky
whose lightning won’t penetrate
a rotten heart that soon will die,
we’re waiting in the waiting room of
idleness
like a fish dying in the sand…
C.2022, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 19 AUG 2022, Valencia, España.
«Emotions» is a group of poems I am compiling, re-writing, revising and even composing. This is the prelude, in other words, what will set the mood, if you please.
I just want to clarify that this poem, as well as all my poetry, has nothing to do with me or my life, ambitions, desires, emotions or will. It is not natural, in other words, it does not express a raw, human emotion.
It cannot. There are no words that one can use to write real, human, raw emotions. A raw emotion would sound like this: AAAAAAGGGGRRRRRRHHH…
No, this poem, like all poetry, even yours, is not natural, it is contrived. It is artifice. It is an artistic re-creation of the memory of an emotion or of the thought of one, or one researched or borrowed from someone else. You have heard that good artists borrow from others, but great artists steal. Well what that means is that you appropriate but you don’t plagiarise, you make it yours, authentic and particular. It is like that when writing about and of emotions.
Art is a human creation, it is not a natural phenomenon. And talent is not a genetic trait, it is developed. Poetry, like all art forms, is created through the use of craft (which you must study to acquire) and talent. Talent is the result of hard work and much practice. We’ve all heard of that saying: «Good writing is re-writing», well the poet tries to trick you into thinking that the «masterpiece» he/she created just flowed spontaneously from her/his hands, while in truth, there were many hours of perfecting, selecting, editing and re-writing. But it has to be that way if it is going to be considered art.
(Alachati, Turquía – Image property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. All Rights Reserved)
A veces me siento como un fotógrafo random, dando vueltas por la ciudad, por la serranía o por el mar, capturando imágenes, la mayoría de las veces con los ojos para archivarlas en la cabeza, otras veces con la cámara del móvil…
Sometimes I feel like a random photographer, walking around town, the countryside or the sea capturing images. Most of them with my eyes and filing them in my head, but other times with the camera of my mobile…
(València, España)(Chesme, Turquía)(Antigua, Guatemala)(Images property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. All Rights Reserved)
Pero de igual manera, random o sistemáticamente, me gusta recoger imágenes, me gusta la fotografía y me encanta ejercitar la memoria cuando comienzo a ruminar por viejos archivos…
Either way, random or systematic, I love to gather images. I love photography. And more so I love to exercise the memory muscles while ruminating through old files…
(Key West, Florida)(New Orleans, Louisiana)(Miami, Florida-Casa Panza Tablao)(Images property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. All Rights Reserved)
(Image property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. All Rights Reserved)
El velero blanco, el mar azul y la marea un poquito picada pero no pasa nada, a navegar por estas costas tan maravillosas del Mar Egeo. Estamos en la costa de la peninsula llamada Chesme por los turcos. Era, como toda la costa, parte de Grecia y a estos Deus lares ellos le llamaban Kyssos (Κυσσός) y los romanos Cysus.
Our sailboat is white, the sea is blue and although the tides are a bit choppy, no problem. We will easily sail these coasts of the Aegean Sea. We are on the coast of the Turkish peninsula they call Cesme. This area, like all of the Aegean once belonged to Greece and they called these parts Kyssos, and the Romans called them Cysus.
(Images property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. All Rights Reserved)
(Image property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios València. All Rights Reserved)
Bueno ya el tiempo está mejorando, amanecimos con unos 20 grados…
Hoy es un nuevo día, hay que aprovechar este tiempo que se nos ha dado y utilizarlo para mejorar el mundo mejorándose uno mismo.
Y ¿Como?
Fácil. Ligera tu carga, relaja los hombros, ríe de todo, como un tonto, y no te estreses tanto por las cosas porque todo pasa y poco queda. Reduce tu bagaje mental y físico y verás que así podrás llegar a la meta.
No busques la libertad, ¡Sé libre!
Os deseo un día feliz.
———————————————————————
Well, the weather has improved, we awoke to a nice and breezy 20 degrees C.
It is a new day! Today is a new day and we have to utilise the time we’ve been given to make the world better by making ourselves better.
And how does one do that?
Easy. Lighten your load. Relax your shoulders and laugh! Laugh at everything like a fool! Everything passes, little remains. Reduce your mental baggage and physical one too. Lighter now, you’ll see you can reach your goals.
(Image property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. All Rights Reserved)
Rara la vez que doy una explicación de lo que he pintado, y mas raro aun si se trata de explicar una abstracción. Pero siempre que hay reglas hay excepciones. «Sol sobre tu campo de batalla» es una abstracción pero también símbolo de un recuerdo, personal, lejano, inexorable e implacable, y lo he usado de referencia…interna…para crear este cuadro.
Sabemos que el sol brilla, alegra, aclara dudas, penas, aleja los miedos, y hasta nos hace pensar que hemos sobrevivido, que la tempestad ya ha pasado y que estamos salvos. Pero a veces en los lugares mas idílicos, donde llega la energía y el brillo del sol, es donde nos encontramos con grandes peligros, con tragedias, con el sufrimiento y con la guerra. Esto es lo que simboliza esta abstracción, y aunque la referencia proviene de mis experiencias y mis recuerdos, puede que este cuadro establezca un claro vinculo con los vuestras.
Rarely, if ever, do I proffer an explanation of one of my paintings. Even rarer is that I explain an abstract painting. But there are exceptions to every rule and here is what I’ve to say about «Sol sobre tu campo de batalla» («Sunrise Over Your Battlefield»). It is abstract and refers to a personal memory. This long ago reminiscence, inexorable, and implacable, was the internal reference I used to create this painting.
We all know that the sun shines brightly and usually that makes us happy. Its brilliance tends to clear away doubts and pain. It lessens fears and makes us think that we have survived, that the storm has passed and that now we are safe under the warmth of the sun. But there are times, when in the most idyllic places where the sun shines, we find danger, tragedy, suffering and war beneath that brilliant light. This is what this abstract painting represents. And although the internal reference procedes from my experiences and memory, it could also be a clear link to yours as well.
JaZzArt en València 