The Poison Pie Publishing House presents:

June 1, 2024
Once it had been established that each settlement on Tenedos included one individual capable of communicating with a member of the other village, Kallias and the Hittite also recognized that terms of any accord between their peoples must be negotiated by officials with greater authority than a woodcutter and scout. They agreed to return to this ridge on the following day, each bringing a proposal for a meeting of their leaders. Kallias extended an empty hand in parting, which the Hittite accepted, calling him, "Brother." Europe, whose presence had enabled this exchange, was entirely overlooked in the farewell.

written while listening to:  Ruben Samama - Hotaru (O.A.P. Records, OAPR702, 2007, The Netherlands, cd, discogs.com)

June 2, 2024
During not one but two subsequent meetings, Kallias, through Europe, negotiated with the Hittite scout, eventually settling on terms of a meeting that were acceptable to Isodemus. The summit was to take place in two days time at the Hittite settlement on the eastern shore of Tenedos. Initially, the Hittite had suggested a meeting in the Cretan colony but Isodemus feared such a visit hid a scheme to fully ascertain the strength of their defenses. They would travel by trehantiri along the southern coast. Isodemus was allowed to bring four men with him and, of course, his interpreter.

written while listening to:  Høbama - II (AMP Music & Records, AT 0102, 2021, Norway, cd, discogs.com)

June 3, 2024
Left behind were Bernike and the magistrate's nervous wife, whom she reassured with calming words that promised the safe return of their husbands. Indeed, Kallias was chosen as one of four men to accompany the magistrate, along with two fishermen adept at sea and a former soldier known to Isodemus from his army days. For Kallias, who had yearned to be part of the fishing crew, his maiden voyage on the vessel was not as he had imagined. As for our heroine, Europe could scarcely believe that, under an apricot-colored dawn, she set sail for a Hittite port.

written while listening to:  George - Letters to George (Out of Your Head Records, OOYH 018, 2023, Canada, cd, discogs.com)

June 4, 2024
Sailing into the cove in late morning, Isodemus declared the cloudless, azure skies an auspicious omen. The others aboard eyed skeptically the massive stone blocks laid down roughly to form a wall between the beach and the tiers of buildings on the hillside. These were a well-protected people accustomed to warding off hostile invaders. Kallias pointed out the Hittite scout flanked by a squadron of soldiers waiting on the shore. When Isodemus disembarked, Europe followed two steps behind him, as instructed, and translated his greeting in a loud, clear voice that rang out in the muggy air.

written while listening to:  Derek Bailey - Playbacks (Bingo, BIN 004, 1999, United States, cd, discogs.com)

June 5, 2024
The colonists were led up the slope to a sizeable edifice built of stone imported by boat from the mainland of Anatolia, six miles farther east. A man of thirty, the Hittite chief wore a kilt and no shirt. Several women sat behind him, each in a tunic with a hat from which folds of colorful cloth hung over their backs. The Cretans had not brought such finery to Tenedos and Europe felt the drabness of her wool peplos. The scout took his place beside the chief and rendered his welcome in Attic, pausing at times for Europe to translate his words in Doric.

written while listening to:  Keiji Haino - The 21st Century Hard-y-guide-y Man: Koitsukara usetaitameno hakarigoto (P.S.F. Records, PSFD-8029, 2008, Japan, cd, discogs.com)

June 6, 2024
An exchange of gifts next took place. The Hittite chief had a servant bring forth a hoe with a wooden shaft and iron head. This sturdy tool harkened back to an age five hundred years earlier when the might of the Hittite empire rivaled even that of distant Kemet. Their knowledge of iron had given rise to the famed swords that had earned many victories on the field of battle. Isodemos offered in return one of their few remaining amphora of olive oil. Certainly, these gifts plainly revealed the stark difference in the welfare of the two settlements.

written while listening to:  The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City, disc 2 (Pi Recordings, PI20, 2006, United States, cdx2, discogs.com)

June 7, 2024
The chief described the regional political climate to Isodemus. The Hittites had already lost much of their ancestral lands to the Greeks. For centuries, the city of Troy, not but a day's travel northeast on the mainland, had been in the hands first of Spartans and later other Greek tribes. Thessalonians and Athenians battled sporadically for control of the local sea lanes. The Cretans had settled in a hornet's nest. If their fledgling colony was not ransacked on a whim by one of these maritime powers then, should it dare to flourish, it would be occupied.

written while listening to:  Joëlle Léandre & Michael Duch - (Live At) Gråmølna (Confront, ccs 31, 2014, United Kingdom, cd, discogs.com)

June 8, 2024
As the day drew on, Europe translated the terms for the peaceful coexistence of the two settlements on Tenedos. The central ridge that separated the island would serve as the boundary for hunting, logging and mining. Trade would follow when the agricultural efforts of the Cretans provided a surplus beyond the needs of the colony. A judicial agreement was also reached; should a man of one settlement steal from or kill a man of the other settlement, his life would be immediately forfeit, to be enslaved or executed as the victim and their family deemed fitting.

written while listening to:  Matthew Shipp & Steve Swell - Space Cube Jazz (RogueArt, ROG-0133, 2024, France, cd, discogs.com)

June 9, 2024
Toward dusk, many in the Hittite village gathered for a feast. The chief spoke a few words in praise of their peace treaty, before ordering servants to bring forth food and drink. A brewer lived among them who possessed expert skill in the art of beer making. Each round was drawn from a different batch and revealed subtle and complex differences in choice of grains and alcohol content. Well into their cups, the chief pointed to Europe. He had his scout make an offer to Isodemus, which Europe reluctantly translated, "I will trade a Hittite woman of child-bearing age for your woman."

written while listening to:  Sofía Salvo - ROTAROTA (Relative Pitch Records, RPRSS022, 2024, United States, cd, discogs.com)

June 10, 2024
Isodemus harbored no special fondness for Europe, an unmarried woman in his colony. Moreover, in reaching an agreement with the Hittites, he had managed to navigate a delicate situation with the existing islanders. Agreeing to the trade would appease the chief and cement this bond. Before he spoke, he glanced at Kallias, who, as brother-in-law, was responsible for Europe. Isodemus saw in the set of his jaw a clear opposition to the suggestion. There was also the practical matter that Europe was the only one among them who could readily communicate with the Hittites.

written while listening to:  Rudresh Mahanthappa - Kinsmen (Pi Recordings, PI28, 2008, United States, cd, discogs.com)

June 11, 2024
"You are too generous," Isodemus replied to the Hittite chief. Drinking from his cup, he declared, "and your hospitality rivals the halls of King Minos! Still, she is our best means of communicating. It took both your scout and my translator to bring this happy meeting to fruition. I suggest that you allow us to return home with her, where she is teaching others her dialect. I will accelerate the pace of her instruction and return her to you on midsummer's eve." Europe dutifully translated this brief reprieve, though it drained all joy from her heart.

written while listening to:  Yuka Honda - Eucademix (Tzadik, TZ 7712, 2004, United States, cd, discogs.com)

June 12, 2024
On the following day, the six Greeks returned to the colony. During the journey to the Hittite settlement, Europe had said nothing, as she was a lone woman, necessary only for the men to accomplish their task. Coming home, however, her silence carried a resentful judgment that irritated Isodemus. Although she sat in the bow as before, he barked at her to stay out of his way. She revealed no emotion as the resolve hardened inside her. "I shall be the property of no man, neither Hittite nor Cretan." Her thoughts ricocheted wildly inside her head as she imagined various, drastic acts of defiance.

written while listening to:  Andrew Hill - Shades (Soul Note, SN 1113, 1987, Italy, lp, discogs.com)

June 13, 2024
Back at the colony, Berenike greeted her husband and sister-in-law. She immediately read in their expressions that some disaster had befallen them. Europe refused to speak her fate aloud, lest vocalizing the words lend support to them. It thus fell to Kallias to tell his wife that Europe would be given to the Hittite chief on the summer solstice. "How could you let that happen?" she demanded of him. He told her only what she already knew. "A wood-cutter does not speak at a table where two magistrates decide the fates of their peoples."

written while listening to:  Eberhard Weber - Selected Recordings (ECM Records, :rarum XVIII, 2004 (orig. 1975-2001), Germany, cd, discogs.com)

June 14, 2024
As a reward for their successful mission, the four men that had accompanied Isodemus on the mission were moved to the top of the list for private housing. Perhaps in recompense for surrendering his sister-in-law, Kallias was first to depart the long house. He inspected the dwelling with Berenike and Europe, who would move with them. It was difficult for Berenike to express her happiness with the improvement in their accommodations while under the cloud of Europe's impending departure. Instead, she showed Europe the corner where she hung a curtain to give her sister her own space.

written while listening to:  AR. MA. - Peryhelium (Ramble Records, RAM 108, 2022, Australia, cd, discogs.com)

June 15, 2024
In the intimacy induced by this shared, smaller home, Europe learned a darker truth, which Kallias had hidden from her. Although many men were accompanied by their wives, those that were unmarried had come alone. Several women had been brought as prostitutes to satisfy the physical needs of these men, but some yearned for a wife. In this colony, only one woman was neither married nor a prostitute. No matter how carefully Europe had attempted to maintain a low profile, her unique status could not be hidden. Several potential suitors had already approached Kallias, inquiring about Europe's bride price.

written while listening to:  Chet Baker - Chet (Riverside Records, RLP-1135, 1959, United States, lp, discogs.com)

June 16, 2024
"So you see," Kallias told her, "you were soon to marry anyway. Here it would have been a wood-cutter or a fishermen. Now your husband will be a chieftain." He had previously relayed these overtures for Europe's hand to Berenike, who had urged him to allow her to broach the subject with her sister at a time of her own choosing. The trip to the Hittite village had forced the moment to the fore. "You knew?" Europe asked Berenike. The betrayal burned down her throat to her stomach as if she had drunk from a chalice of flaming pitch.

written while listening to:  Sonny Rollins - This Is What I Do (Milestone, MCD-9310-2, 2000, United States, cd, discogs.com)

June 17, 2024
"I was going to tell you," Berenike pleaded, "I promise!" Europe fled from their home, storming out of the village and up the slope into the forest. Soon a canopy of leaves hid her sorrow from the silver moonlight. Do not look too carefully, Gentle Reader, for tears in the darkness. There were none shed. A year in the labyrinth had deprived Europe of certain faculties. It seemed that the whim of fate had exhausted her despair and was powerless to cause further anguish. It could now stoke in her only a silent, simmering rage.

written while listening to:  Miles Davis - Nefertiti (Columbia, CS 9594, 1968, United States, lp, discogs.com)

June 18, 2024
There would be no marriage, not to a Hittite nor a Cretan. Nor would she return home to marry the son of an Athenian lord. She would have no husband. If she were forced, she pledged to return to the labyrinth to wed the minotaur in darkness. Because she did not believe the minotaur existed, she swore that any future husband would be equally invented and unreal. This thought grew in her mind until she began to imagine that her time in the labyrinth constituted a courtship and that she was indeed betrothed to the beast.

written while listening to:  John Zorn - The Parachute Years, disc 2 (Tzadik, TZ 7316, 1997 (rec. 1977), United States, cdx7, discogs.com)

June 19, 2024
"I'm already married," she said to Kallias and Berenike. Her brother-in-law expressed surprise that she had not told them of this earlier, though her sister had long suspected that she ran from a man. Kallias frowned. "As a ruse," he said, "that's not going to work. Even if it were true, I suspect it matters little to your future husband. You abandoned the past when you came aboard the ship with us to Tenedos. It is too late to attempt to reclaim it now." Berenike, however, responded in a different way. "Who is your husband?"

written while listening to:  Oren Ambarchi, Jim O'Rourke & Keiji Haino - Caught in the Dilemma of Being Made to Choose..., sides C & D (Black Truffle/Medama Records, BT097/mr11, 2022, Australia/Japan, lpx2, discogs.com)

June 20, 2024
Europe did not reveal to her sister that she had emerged from the labyrinth. She rightly feared the actions of Isodemus should he learn the truth, for the temper of King Minos was legendary. He might wipe out the colony one and all for secreting away, even unknowingly, one of the virginal brides he had given to the minotaur. Her refusal to speak the truth seemed to Kallias only an admission that her claim of marriage was a pretense, created now only in a feeble attempt to escape a fate predetermined for all women. Berenike correctly guessed that there was more to the story that Europe could not tell.

written while listening to:  Marilyn Crispell - Collaborations (Leo Records, CD LR 528, 2009 (rec. 2004 & 2007), United Kingdom, cd, discogs.com)

June 21, 2024
Europe began to plot her escape. She might have run away her first night back in the colony but she feared what punishment her flight would bring down on Kallias and Berenike. Despite having kept the existence of suitors from her, the couple had taken her in when Abydos tired of her. They constituted her only family now. She insisted that her flight bring no suspicion of complicity upon them. Each time Berenike looked at her, Europe quickly turned away lest her sister pierce her thoughts. This guilty behavior betrayed her secret as surely as any confession.

written while listening to:  Steve Lacy - The Ictus Archives Volume 1 (Ictus Records, ICTUS RE 0007, 2023 (rec. 1976), Italy, lp, discogs.com)

June 22, 2024
Berenike pretended to be asleep when her sister snuck out of the house at midnight. Europe slipped past the guards and ascended into the forest hills. Upon a bald, with only the company of the cool, sea breeze to run its fingers through her hair, she pledged herself to her husband, the minotaur. "I did not realize," she said to her absent partner, "until I fled your domain, how much I had come to rely upon you. I miss you dearly. I should never have left." How many young people, men and women alike, have uttered similar sentiments under the moon!

written while listening to:  Graham Lambkin & Jason Lescalleet - The Breadwinner (Erstwhile Records, erstwhile 052, 2008, United States, cd, discogs.com)

June 23, 2024
In the morning, Berenike found Europe asleep behind the curtain. In truth, she was both relieved and aggrieved. Europe woke, groggily opening her eyes to find the curtain pulled aside, her sister watching her. "Sister," she said, "I will not marry." Berenike replied with a faint smile, "It's not so bad as you imagine." Europe returned a smirk, "Not all husbands are alike. Are you offering me Kallias?" Berenike crept onto the blanket and lay down. Both women closed their eyes. "If you are asking me to give up my happiness for your own, I cannot promise that I will."

written while listening to:  Kazuhisa Uchihashi - Singing Daxophone (Innocent Records, ICR-025, 2021, Japan, cd, discogs.com)

June 24, 2024
At a public gathering of all residents of the colony, Isodemus announced the peace treaty with the Hittites. He handed the iron hoe off to the foreman in charge of the fields. The magistrate also declared that Kallias had volunteered his sister-in-law to be traded to the chief of the Hittites as a token of good will. He then made a brief note of appreciation for Europe's nobility in accepting her lot for the good of the colony. In this way, he deceived the Cretans into believing that she willingly embraced this act of altruism.

written while listening to:  John Coltrane - A Love Supreme, disc 2 (Impulse!, 314 589 945-2, 2002 (orig. 1965), United States, cdx2, discogs.com)

June 25, 2024
Europe returned to the mountain bald at midnight. There she would have pled her case to the moon goddess, Selene, had she not already come to the conclusion that the entire pantheon of gods was a fabrication of wicked men. Instead, she basked in moonlight, hoping that it might cleanse her of the nausea that had filled her when the magistrate suggested once again that she had been chosen as a sacrificial victim to spare her people from the predations of an over-powering foe. It was preposterous that any woman could be asked to do this twice.

written while listening to:  Company - Company 1 (Incus Records, INCUS 21, 1977, United Kingdom, lp, discogs.com)

June 26, 2024
The days passed for Europe as if she were a condemned prisoner waiting for the date of her execution to arrive. Accordingly, the superstitious women in the village avoided her, afraid that even catching her gaze would bring ill luck. Her sole interaction with anyone other than Berenike occurred during the daily classes when she taught a group the Attic dialect. Her nocturnal visits to the mountain bald became regular and disturbed Berenike little. There Europe silently raged in the moonlight against her fate and the Cretans who treated with contempt one who bought their freedom so dearly.

written while listening to:  Duke Ellington, Charlie Mingus & Max Roach - Money Jungle (United Artists Jazz, UAJS 15017, 1962, United States, lp, discogs.com)

June 27, 2024
One lonesome night, the fickle moon tempted Europe to venture not into the forest hills but down to the beach. There she found the trehantiri pulled ashore alongside the much larger trireme. Climbing in, she sat and contemplated fleeing the hateful island of Tenedos. With wooden oars in hand, she recalled, as many women had upon their initial arrival, the lush paradise of Lesbos. She was prevented from immediately stealing off in the fishing boat for that refuge only by recriminating thoughts of the colonists, now dependent upon this vessel to procure their daily meals.

written while listening to:  Dave Holland - Prism (Dare2 Records, 88883721802, 2013, United States, cd, discogs.com)

June 28, 2024
On the following night, Berenike woke to find the shadow of her sister slipping out the door. She experienced an unbidden premonition that she would not see Europe again. With an irrational urgency, she too rose, threw on her chiton and emerged into the cool air. She marveled at how easily it was to follow Europe past the lax guard into the hills. On the mountain bald, she found Europe waiting for her. They embraced in the moonlight. "Sister, I am leaving," said the one. The other had no argument to prevent her flight, but her tears succeeded in postponing it.

written while listening to:  Tyshawn Sorey Trio + 1 with Greg Osby - The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism, disc 1 (Pi Recordings, PI96, 2022, United States, cdx3, discogs.com)

June 29, 2024
On the day before midsummer's eve, a trireme from Knossos arrived, laden with supplies of all kinds for the fledgling colony. The ship carried grain, wine, olive oil, dried fruits as well as a selection of cloth, tools and weapons. Lest his words proved empty, Isodemus had not publicized the pledge by the Minoan government to provide after six months a replenishment of supplies. As such, the surprised residents reveled in the unexpected bounty and the security of the reminder that they were not entirely on their own. With the population nearly doubled, a celebration lasted far into the night.

written while listening to:  Marc Ribot - Don't Blame Me (DIW, DIW-902, 1995, Japan, cd, discogs.com)

June 30, 2024
Early in the morning, when the embers were covered in a thick coat of ash and the last carousing sailors had fallen into slumber, Europe left the colony for good. Placed beside the door to the house, she found a sack filled with the needs of a traveler—a waterskin, hardtack, a blanket. It had obviously been prepared by Berenike. In the darkness, Europe did not take a full inventory, but glanced over at the woman, asleep with the arm of her husband draped over her breast. She prayed to non-existent gods that her actions did not wrest happiness from their grasp.

written while listening to:  Pia Tafdrup & Køs - Ud Af En Mund (Barefoot Records, BFREC071CD, 2021, Denmark, cd, discogs.com)