Albors Askari

Albors Askari

Albors Pascal Askari has composed a piece of music to accompany the poem I wrote for the victims of the Japan Tsunami.

Personally, I think it is stunning. To me, it is reminiscent of Michael Nyman with a bit of Erik Satie thrown in for good measure. You might even say there’s a teeny bit of Penguin Cafe Orchestra in there too.

It’s very evocative and melancholy.

The piece is called Onagawa, (after the nuclear power plant), and you can listen to it here on Soundcloud.

If it tickles your fancy you might want to listen to the rest of his ‘work-in-progress’ album here.

Albors hails from Vienna, Austria and comes across as a very humble man so it would be good if you could ‘Share’ his work, or ‘like’ it if you have the time. And maybe, when the album is released, (he mentioned October time), you might even buy a copy. I know I will.

As some of you may recall, the poem was the catalyst for the Japan Art Auction which went on to raise just over £5k for the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

Here is the poem in a couple of guises. (Just click on them if you want to enlarge them or scroll down to read it on the post.)

Tsunami - A poem for Japan, by David Milligan-Croft

Tsunami - A poem for Japan, by David Milligan-Croft

Tsunami –
A poem for Japan
by David Milligan-Croft

The world cracked
And up you rose
From the Ring of Fire
On a day when the gods were too busy.

You rode ashore,
Like 40,000 apocalyptic horsemen,
Not pausing for houses, for cars,
For people, for breath.

Dragging their kicks and screams
Through concrete and timber and twisted steel,
Splintering bones
Like cherry blossom twigs.

Until they were silent.
And the world was silent.

Then you slithered away
On the belly of the night,
Lapping the shore whilst
Licking your greedy fingers.

And after you are satiated,
And we have un-buried our dead,
We will climb up out of the mud,
And the sun will rise again.

Update: Tsunami – A poem for Japan

£5,000 ($8,000) raised to date!

*Please note that the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) will not be having an appeal for Japan. Therefore, I have deleted their web link from this post. Apologies to anyone who has already donated.

The British Red Cross appeal is sending donations directly to the Japanese Red Cross and MSF already have people on the ground over there.

I have penned a few lines for our brothers and sisters over in Japan. If you like what I have written, perhaps you might donate a pound, a euro, or a dollar to one of the charities listed below to help them in their hour of need. Even if you don’t like it, perhaps you might donate a pound or two.

There is a message of hope at the end. So hopefully, with the rest of the world’s help (and money), they’ll get through it.

I’ve designed two versions, one contemporary and one traditional using Hokusai’s iconic painting. Please feel free to download a PDF.

Red Cross

Medecins Sans Frontieres

TSUNAMI-A POEM FOR JAPAN

TSUNAMI-POEM-HOKUSAI

Tsunami – A poem for Japan

Tsunami – A poem for Japan (Hokusai)

Tsunami –
A poem for Japan
by David Milligan-Croft

The world cracked
And up you rose
From the Ring of Fire
On a day when the gods were too busy.

You rode ashore,
Like 40,000 apocalyptic horsemen,
Not pausing for houses, for cars,
For people, for breath.

Dragging their kicks and screams
Through concrete and timber and twisted steel,
Splintering bones
Like cherry blossom twigs.

Until they were silent.
And the world was silent.

Then you slithered away
On the belly of the night,
Lapping the shore while
Licking your greedy fingers.

And after you are satiated,
And we have un-buried our dead,
We will climb up out of the mud,
And the sun will rise again.