Today, the 4th of December, is Rainer Maria Rilke’s birthday. Honoring the poet, three biographies appeared in 2025, which I am about to read: Sandra Richter’s “Rilke or The Open Life”, Manfred Koch’s “Rilke – Poet of Anxiety” and Ruediger Shaper’s Rainer Maria Rilke: The Prophet of the Avant-Garde.
All three in the German Language. In the biogaphy by Manfred Koch, Rilke’s traumatic experiences are shown to be pivotal in forming his psychological make-up and artistic drive. Several reviews confirm that Koch presents Rilke’s anxieties not as much as an obstacle but as the very creative engine for his poetry.
Being interested in ways in which art and literature are utilized to cope with pain, and trauma, I will be reading eagerly…
Every Wednesday morning, seven of us serving the life sentence of Parkinson’s, tear through Mering Heath, in the south of Germany. Brushing against coarse grass and heather, stabbing the ground with our walking sticks, thrusting ourselves forward, we fill our lungs with the heather-scented air.
During today’s cooling-down session – swinging upper body left and right, extended arms loosely following, slowly catching our breath – the leader of our group relates the history of the place. In the 1700s, a building housing the Court of Justice stood exactly here by the Galgenbach, the Gallows stream. It was here that executions ordered by the Court were carried out. Crowds gathered, watched and cheered with the tightening of each noose, with each trap door opening. They watched the 15 minute-dance of the hanged, and then walked home.
hangman’s elm the ancient tree creaks and groans . In Blithe Spirit 35. 2 p. 70
The podcast series Two Parkies in a Pod offers advice and tips on how to cope with chronic illness, and the specific challenges of Parkinson’s: https://www.2parkiesinapod.com/
The Haiku Foundation year-long (2024-2025) series ‘Haiku for Parkinson’s’ features #haiku as a tool that may help calm, reframe problem(s), and generally improve the quality of life for those living with disease and the psychosocial entanglements it involves:
What do I find helpful in my own journey of the disease? My family and friends; the ‘Betreutes Laufen‘ walking for Parkinson’s group in Augsburg, the Ping Pong Parkinson (PPP) group in Augsburg and the dedicated PPPCourse in Koenigsbrunn (see also the nationwide PPP Association https://www.pingpongparkinson.de/); being part of the international online community, writing and reading haiku; felting, gardening…
Happy to share with you all the news of the forthcoming Kunsthandwerkermarkt in Neuburg an der Donau in which I am taking part. Eighth and ninth of March 2025, only one week away…I can’t wait!
The images below show some of the works I will be showing.
What would you do if you knew this was the last night of the world? In Ray Bradbury’s short story and the recent Chamber opera inspired by it, couples, who have all dreamt the same dream about the world’s end, struggle with this question. Displaying doubt, disbelief and denial, as well as acceptance of their forthcoming demise, they argue, fight, hug, open their most expensive bottle of wine. The mundane response when facing the extraordinary. After all, the end of the world doesn’t sound as alarming as the Apocalypse!
And yet and yet. What would you do? What would I do? It is time to explore what our answer might be. Even more so than in 1951 when the short story was published, even when certain diseases propel some of us to an accelerated end. Seconds away from disaster, according to the Doomsday Clock, with wars erupting in ever more places and wildfires scorching dearly held assumptions, it comes to this: there is no time to lose.
dreaming… sweat rolls down midnight
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Haibun responding to “The Last Night of the World”, a Chamber opera by Agustí Charles inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story of the same title. The State Theater of Augsburg commissioned it, and it premiered on 24.1.2025 at the Brechtbühne im Gaswerk. I saw it a few days later.
In this special video episode by Two Parkies in a Pod, Dave and Kuhan chat to the world-leading Parkinson’s expert, Bas Bloem, about living well with the condition. Informative and fun!
If you ever had any doubts about the value of exercise for Parkinson’s, you must watch this episode. Bas Bloem points out that the only treatment proven to help with symptom reduction and delay the progression of this disease is exercise, not drugs! This prompts Kuhan to ask: If you don’t miss a dose of your drugs, why would you miss a dose of exercise?
Recommended dose? Daily, the more, the better…
Literature, Art, and Life through the Lens of Haiku
