iuliana varodi p o e t r y p h o t o g r a p h y a r t p r o j e c t s
The book slips on the knees, the gaze wanders through the landscape, the voices around are fading away. The velocity of the car makes the viscosity of the forest play games with the imagery of the mind. A continuously changing scenario of leaves, branches, trees, brown, green, yellow and gray, a dazzling multitude of views and gradations. As mist envelopes the landscape with a liquidity in which forms and colours fade away, the horizon melts with the sky, as if everything got swallowed by the inside of a cloud. Like one of those late winter afternoons in the hills, when the land covered by snow and the cloudy sky form a continuous body that has no spots, no edges, no curves, no ends, no beginnings. As if life would be happening on the inner surface of the globe of earth and the whole sky had moved inside it, a round world of white silence and hidden tales. Closing the eyes suffices to be carried on this white track to somewhere, somewhen. Keeping the eyes closed is the trick that reveals the visited time and space to the mind, the trick that makes seeing possible.
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The Daniels were three and they were of a brotherhood that remained hidden even to them till late in their gray ages. At times life crossed their paths as if to challenge their seeing, the remembering of a common seed they all carried inside. But none of them was strong enough to watch the bleeding diamond in the heart of the other, and pour on it from his own magic liquor. None of them knew, but each one carried the liquor that would heal one of the others wounds. As they were Daniels, they were brought up to show to the world a proud forehead and keep their pain hidden in the darkness of their deep minds.
The first one to be born was Daniel the Wise. He spent his life studying and understanding the world of Matter, digging its most sophisticated laws and manifestations, observing the behaviour of its finest particles, bringing the world new knowledge. Daniel the Wise took life as it came. His love was blessed with three beautiful daughters. One of them enjoyed cultivating pearls inside of poppy flowers, another one was writing songs for snowflakes and the youngest was teaching rainbow colours to a colony of ants.
The second one to be born was Danielle the Wave. She spent her life watching the rain and dreaming of the ocean, listening to the rays of early morning sun, collecting their light. At times in her sleep she travelled to faraway spaces. She once met a Daniel with no Name, a man with a translucent body, a prince and a beggar in one, with a sharp, bleeding diamond crying loud in his heart. She poured all the light she collected on him. She knew it didn’t matter who he was. She only did what she learned from the early morning sun. One evening, Fire started talking to her, in a game of answers and questions. Was Fire telling her she had a mission or was it the Moon with a childish fairy tale?
Few years later, Daniel the Winner was born. He was the lucky one to see his first day in a shiny castle. It took him half of his life to see that the castle was made of ice. Driven and brilliant, he kept building new accessories to the castle. He was given the gift of cleaning the air and as he saw in it a good source of gold, he started selling it around. At times, people would sell their own cottages, having no other choice to survive, as clear air became rare in the last century. From his castle Daniel couldn’t see that struggle and kept selling the best he could. He would even play with friends, promising different boons if they would take some work over. Some were promised a secret, some endless fields of roses, crystal horses and to one he even promised half of his castle.
Daniel the Wise came across Daniel the Winner once at a great fair, where scientists, fakirs and alchemists were gathering to exchange their knowledge, skills and wonders. They didn’t talk to each other but as they walked pass the other, the bleeding diamond in each heart sent a signal of great pain to the other. But each Daniel was a strong man who knew how to hide pain and kept walking, merely puzzled, wondering how can a stranger have so much the same gaze in his eyes.
Danielle the Wave came across Daniel the Wise as well. They were the smoother ones of the three of them. One day, as they went for a walk on the beach, they felt their bleeding diamonds getting cleaner and the smile on their faces started shining stronger than the pride on their foreheads. There was no need to understand what was going on. Daniel the Wise said with an ecstatic laughing in his voice and with eyes full of joy: the secret is that we can never understand everything. This she knew, she was thinking, and it seemed true, yet she felt her diamond inside still bleeding. She looked inside Daniel the Wise and saw there was still some pain under his great joy. She trusted he was going to keep healing, as his nature was generous, his mind clean and sharp and his heart warm. She thanked him for the friendship and left, wandering whether there was any liquor at all that could completely heal all hearts.
Daniel the Winner also came across Danielle the Wave once. It was on the occasion of a speech that he was supposed to give on his magic gifts of cleaning the air. If it’s “in the air” maybe cleaning the air could help the world clean all pain she thought, and went to join the gathering. At the moment their eyes crossed, Daniel the Winner couldn’t let her go. He took some dips of his magic syrups and took over her for the night. A fluid of infinite silence enveloped the two and took them to some place where they’ve never been before, a place that felt so safe and home. She never saw anyone with such hands, with such eyes. Who was he? She saw the bleeding diamond in his heart but for once, she couldn't help. His pride was keeping him closed and afar. Daniel the Winner saw the power they could have together, but he feared dropping his magic syrups, at least they kept him strong and shining for so long.
There is no end to the story of the travelling Daniels and they are actually more than three, each one carrying a bleeding diamond and a healing liquor deep inside. As long as the Daniels see the world through their wisdom, gifts and miseries, they'll keep searching for the healing where it is not, they'll keep hesitating to pour their healing liquor where needed, worrying they’d lose something that belongs exclusively to them. One day, the Daniels will see the source of their gifts and wisdom as being the same as the source of their pain and maybe they will find that healing liquor that has no end. Then they will start pouring it around with love and faith. How far that day is we can't tell, we can only watch the morning sun and wait.