Tarik Yasin Ahlip: Notes Steeped in Nostalgia, Gore and Singed Monkey Fur

Friday, August 31, 2007

From within an improbable mausoleum of air, a nightingale's song charms another heart of stone out from its morbid cavity.

Tarik Yasin Ahlip: Byz·an·tine: [biz-uhn-teen] 1. Of or pertaining to Byzantium. 2.(sometimes lowercase) Complex or intricate: "a deal requiring Byzantine financing." 3.(sometimes lowercase) Characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue, esp. for the gaining of political power or favor: "Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship." 4. Fine Arts. Pertaining to or designating the style of the fine or decorative arts developed and elaborated in the Byzantine Empire and its provinces: characterized chiefly by an ecclesiastically prescribed iconography, highly formal structure, severe confinement of pictorial space to a shallow depth, and the use of rich, often sumptuous color.