Bluma
@bluma.bsky.social
Werewolf advocate, Golem appreciator. Writes a little about H. Leivick on https://blumalangerobertson.substack.com/
Back in Ayr today, and while we were busy with a swim meet, we’ve previously been out that way to the Burns Museum and birthplace and its a great one in my book — a whole museum dedicated to a minority language poet!
Yes, of course he’s the national bard
Yes, of course he’s the national bard
January 17, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Back in Ayr today, and while we were busy with a swim meet, we’ve previously been out that way to the Burns Museum and birthplace and its a great one in my book — a whole museum dedicated to a minority language poet!
Yes, of course he’s the national bard
Yes, of course he’s the national bard
I actually acquired a corned beef sandwich today and none of it went into my considerably less stylish adult handbag.
January 17, 2026 at 6:15 PM
I actually acquired a corned beef sandwich today and none of it went into my considerably less stylish adult handbag.
I encounter the word ’yurt’ shockingly often. I am fond of it.
January 16, 2026 at 9:56 PM
I encounter the word ’yurt’ shockingly often. I am fond of it.
Somewhere deep inside me is still the little girl who liked to wear a fur stole, a wig, little 60’s crocheted gloves, and fill her gorgeous silver clutch bag with corned beef.
January 16, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Somewhere deep inside me is still the little girl who liked to wear a fur stole, a wig, little 60’s crocheted gloves, and fill her gorgeous silver clutch bag with corned beef.
There is a lovely passage in H. Leivick’s cycle ‘In Snow’, consisting of several poems, where a woman boards the sleigh in Siberia
She is, of course, imaginary. She always had to be.
But he still takes off his coat for this idea of a woman, putting it over her in her bearskin to keep her warm.
She is, of course, imaginary. She always had to be.
But he still takes off his coat for this idea of a woman, putting it over her in her bearskin to keep her warm.
January 16, 2026 at 12:32 PM
There is a lovely passage in H. Leivick’s cycle ‘In Snow’, consisting of several poems, where a woman boards the sleigh in Siberia
She is, of course, imaginary. She always had to be.
But he still takes off his coat for this idea of a woman, putting it over her in her bearskin to keep her warm.
She is, of course, imaginary. She always had to be.
But he still takes off his coat for this idea of a woman, putting it over her in her bearskin to keep her warm.
I have a teeny little novelty Torah scroll thing, given to me as a child.
The man decided it couldn’t just sit there and *shelved* it.
(The bag next to it is a little siddur my great grandmother carried at her wedding that shouldn’t lie like that because it’s damaged. He shelved that, too.)
The man decided it couldn’t just sit there and *shelved* it.
(The bag next to it is a little siddur my great grandmother carried at her wedding that shouldn’t lie like that because it’s damaged. He shelved that, too.)
January 16, 2026 at 8:25 AM
I have a teeny little novelty Torah scroll thing, given to me as a child.
The man decided it couldn’t just sit there and *shelved* it.
(The bag next to it is a little siddur my great grandmother carried at her wedding that shouldn’t lie like that because it’s damaged. He shelved that, too.)
The man decided it couldn’t just sit there and *shelved* it.
(The bag next to it is a little siddur my great grandmother carried at her wedding that shouldn’t lie like that because it’s damaged. He shelved that, too.)
Since I‘m talking about being pocket-sized, let me point out it is a delight to visit old house and mines and shit and find I don’t have to stoop.
Take that, tall people.
Take that, tall people.
January 15, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Since I‘m talking about being pocket-sized, let me point out it is a delight to visit old house and mines and shit and find I don’t have to stoop.
Take that, tall people.
Take that, tall people.
Because I am terrible at labelling things, I’ve lost an essay and now have to do it again.
January 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Because I am terrible at labelling things, I’ve lost an essay and now have to do it again.
I keep dreaming I’m at a wedding and there’s coconut cake. Which is great. But we never get to the cake, because we’re always being rounded up for one more photo.
I suspect this is related to the fact that our parents finished the champagne at our wedding while we were off doing pictures.
I suspect this is related to the fact that our parents finished the champagne at our wedding while we were off doing pictures.
January 15, 2026 at 9:55 AM
I keep dreaming I’m at a wedding and there’s coconut cake. Which is great. But we never get to the cake, because we’re always being rounded up for one more photo.
I suspect this is related to the fact that our parents finished the champagne at our wedding while we were off doing pictures.
I suspect this is related to the fact that our parents finished the champagne at our wedding while we were off doing pictures.
Why I remain committed to whatever I’m doing:
In 1946 H. Leivick wrote that we should all have a memorial plaque hanging somewhere we would constantly see it. Shuls, schools, places of work. Home. He’d seen it in the displaced persons’ camps and thought it a magnificent idea.
In 1946 H. Leivick wrote that we should all have a memorial plaque hanging somewhere we would constantly see it. Shuls, schools, places of work. Home. He’d seen it in the displaced persons’ camps and thought it a magnificent idea.
January 14, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Why I remain committed to whatever I’m doing:
In 1946 H. Leivick wrote that we should all have a memorial plaque hanging somewhere we would constantly see it. Shuls, schools, places of work. Home. He’d seen it in the displaced persons’ camps and thought it a magnificent idea.
In 1946 H. Leivick wrote that we should all have a memorial plaque hanging somewhere we would constantly see it. Shuls, schools, places of work. Home. He’d seen it in the displaced persons’ camps and thought it a magnificent idea.
It’s warming up so so I will have no excuse not to go outside and be depressed outside.
January 14, 2026 at 12:58 PM
It’s warming up so so I will have no excuse not to go outside and be depressed outside.
I am going to scream if I have to read the word ‘slop’ day in, day out, for the next year.
AI slop, gender slop…surely we have more words than slop?
AI slop, gender slop…surely we have more words than slop?
January 14, 2026 at 9:58 AM
I am going to scream if I have to read the word ‘slop’ day in, day out, for the next year.
AI slop, gender slop…surely we have more words than slop?
AI slop, gender slop…surely we have more words than slop?
I am well aware that poetry =/= autobiography. I’m not naive, though I didn’t graduate from a fancy school.
But this:
‘The night passes, disappears, day already dawning,
And I — again I read through the letter and seem to hear someone say:
— You see how artfully the *tet* of *toyt* curls…’
But this:
‘The night passes, disappears, day already dawning,
And I — again I read through the letter and seem to hear someone say:
— You see how artfully the *tet* of *toyt* curls…’
January 13, 2026 at 9:42 PM
I am well aware that poetry =/= autobiography. I’m not naive, though I didn’t graduate from a fancy school.
But this:
‘The night passes, disappears, day already dawning,
And I — again I read through the letter and seem to hear someone say:
— You see how artfully the *tet* of *toyt* curls…’
But this:
‘The night passes, disappears, day already dawning,
And I — again I read through the letter and seem to hear someone say:
— You see how artfully the *tet* of *toyt* curls…’
End of an era. I now have to have a smartphone and use it.
January 13, 2026 at 7:44 PM
End of an era. I now have to have a smartphone and use it.
I’m not intending to do anything with it (really, what can I do?)
But I very much enjoyed my spin through Lieder and am now tempted to go flying through Naye Lider just because I can.
(Also, ‘Clouds Behind the Forest’! So good!)
But I very much enjoyed my spin through Lieder and am now tempted to go flying through Naye Lider just because I can.
(Also, ‘Clouds Behind the Forest’! So good!)
January 13, 2026 at 5:32 PM
I’m not intending to do anything with it (really, what can I do?)
But I very much enjoyed my spin through Lieder and am now tempted to go flying through Naye Lider just because I can.
(Also, ‘Clouds Behind the Forest’! So good!)
But I very much enjoyed my spin through Lieder and am now tempted to go flying through Naye Lider just because I can.
(Also, ‘Clouds Behind the Forest’! So good!)
Way back when I had seen the Young Ones and not University Challenge, I thought the teams *were* stacked on top of each other.
January 12, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Way back when I had seen the Young Ones and not University Challenge, I thought the teams *were* stacked on top of each other.
Okay, so that was definitely a ride from ערגעץ ווייט to רעגנבויגן.
January 12, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Okay, so that was definitely a ride from ערגעץ ווייט to רעגנבויגן.
I want to clarify that I am very aware of the literary ‘I,’ but I am very amused to think Leivick is really describing his room with a rocking chair, a couple goldfish, a gardenia on the windowsill and a wooden crow (?!).
The pot plant is quite likely.
The pot plant is quite likely.
January 12, 2026 at 1:35 PM
I want to clarify that I am very aware of the literary ‘I,’ but I am very amused to think Leivick is really describing his room with a rocking chair, a couple goldfish, a gardenia on the windowsill and a wooden crow (?!).
The pot plant is quite likely.
The pot plant is quite likely.
I’m still feeling fairly philosophical over losing my virtual Jewish community over, essentially, insisting that whether we like him or not, Stephen Miller is a Jew.
Just like we can’t say that Americans that we don’t like aren't
Americans, that women who don’t vote that way we want aren’t women...
Just like we can’t say that Americans that we don’t like aren't
Americans, that women who don’t vote that way we want aren’t women...
January 11, 2026 at 4:53 PM
I’m still feeling fairly philosophical over losing my virtual Jewish community over, essentially, insisting that whether we like him or not, Stephen Miller is a Jew.
Just like we can’t say that Americans that we don’t like aren't
Americans, that women who don’t vote that way we want aren’t women...
Just like we can’t say that Americans that we don’t like aren't
Americans, that women who don’t vote that way we want aren’t women...
I haven’t made it rhyme again and I’m not a real translator (they tell me so, over and over) but I am pretending this is the first time I have read any of these and have to share.
January 11, 2026 at 11:16 AM
I haven’t made it rhyme again and I’m not a real translator (they tell me so, over and over) but I am pretending this is the first time I have read any of these and have to share.
I am imagining it is 1919 and I have bought a new book that sounded interesting from a totally ordinary ad in the paper.
The speaker has just harnessed himself to his horse to pull his sleigh in Siberia in the middle of winter. He suspects he might actually be dead in the sleigh.
The speaker has just harnessed himself to his horse to pull his sleigh in Siberia in the middle of winter. He suspects he might actually be dead in the sleigh.
January 10, 2026 at 10:50 PM
I am imagining it is 1919 and I have bought a new book that sounded interesting from a totally ordinary ad in the paper.
The speaker has just harnessed himself to his horse to pull his sleigh in Siberia in the middle of winter. He suspects he might actually be dead in the sleigh.
The speaker has just harnessed himself to his horse to pull his sleigh in Siberia in the middle of winter. He suspects he might actually be dead in the sleigh.
I’ve gotten back to the Buryat steppe again and it awesome.
January 10, 2026 at 6:03 PM
I’ve gotten back to the Buryat steppe again and it awesome.
Labyrinth is like Angela Carter you’re allowed to show small children.
January 10, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Labyrinth is like Angela Carter you’re allowed to show small children.
They are putting Labyrinth back in the cinema and we are going to try to go.
mainly because *we’ve* only ever seen it on TV, let alone the kids,
mainly because *we’ve* only ever seen it on TV, let alone the kids,
January 9, 2026 at 7:31 PM
They are putting Labyrinth back in the cinema and we are going to try to go.
mainly because *we’ve* only ever seen it on TV, let alone the kids,
mainly because *we’ve* only ever seen it on TV, let alone the kids,