The Poison Pie Publishing House presents:

May 1, 2024
So dismal was the first impression of the settlement at Tenedos that some among them instantly regretted having left Crete. To go back was, of course, impossible. However, the women had fresh in their minds the paradisical images of Lesbos with its lush forests. They whispered among themselves, "Why not return to Lesbos? We can stand one more day in the hold." These murmurs never reached the captain, nor the magistrate of the colony to whom he ceded authority now that they were no longer at sea. They had not yet forgotten a life in the shadow of a tyrant where voicing doubt could have fatal consequences.

written while listening to:  Birgitte Lyregaard - Blue Anemone (Challenge Records, CHR70161, 2010, The Netherlands, cd, discogs.com)

May 2, 2024
It fell to Berenike once again to raise the spirits of the women. "Did we think a palace would be waiting for us to take up residence within its walls of marble? Did we suppose the vineyard already harvested, the wine already waiting in amphoras to be poured in celebration at our arrival? Did we not choose to immigrate here to flee a man in a palace? If we are to have a hand in the shaping of our new home, then it is only reasonable that we should start from scratch." After dinner, they slept on the beach as if at a waypoint.

written while listening to:  Maria Faust Sacrum Facere - Organ (Stunt Records, STULP 20071, 2020, Denmark, lp, discogs.com)

May 3, 2024
It was unclear if the stark reality of the camp had been better anticipated by the men. In any case, none gave vent to what misgivings they harbored. The choice of Tenedos as a strategic outpost had been communicated to them ere they left Crete. The island was situated at the southern end of the Hellespont strait, an important navigational route connecting the Aegean Sea and the northern body of water known to sailors alternatively as the Inhospitable Sea or the Hospitable Sea, depending upon one's experiences there. The opposite terms were used interchangeably without any confusion.

written while listening to:  Anna Webber - Third Floor People (Nowt Records, NOWT-005, 2010, United States, cd, discogs.com)

May 4, 2024
As for Europe's reaction to her arrival on Tenedos, she seemed nonplussed, though she expressed neither the reticence of the other women to embrace their home nor the stoicism of the men in accepting their lot. Her thoughts drifted inward, pulled by bizarre currents toward a circling, internal maelstrom to be submerged in darkness. She stared at the border between the rocky beach and the muddy clearing and spoke aloud her feeling to a passing chill wind, "I am not here. This is not me. There is no life that could ever have led me to this place."

written while listening to:  Derek Bailey - String Theory (Paratactile, PLE 1109-2, 2000, United Kingdom, cd, discogs.com)

May 5, 2024
When came the first morning on Tenedos, the sun rose over the island to the east, for they had settled on the west coast. Berenike declared to the women, "See, dawn has come to welcome us," as if this routine inevitability served as incontrovertible evidence that their endeavors were blessed by the cosmos. Her thoughts convulsed by doubt, Europe nevertheless smiled at Berenike's claim. Her reaction did not go unnoticed. Berenike smiled back and merrily exclaimed, "I win!" How could she know that she battled dark forces for the salvation of Europe's soul?

written while listening to:  Keiji Haino - Reveal'd to none as yet..., disc 2 (aRCHIVE/Important Records, archive14+15/imprec074, 2006, United States, cdx2, discogs.com)

May 6, 2024
Peasants and soldiers alike now lived as fellow colonists and set themselves to the labor at hand. The many tasks before them were prioritized by the magistrate, a burly man named Isodemos, who had tired of army life. He possessed a rough and tumble charisma that appealed more to men than women. Isodemos had received a set of instructions from the palace aimed at establishing the colony at a relatively brisk pace. Their motivation for making rapid progress lay in the promise (or threat) of Knossos to provide supplies only for a limited time before the outpost was expected to be largely self-sufficient.

written while listening to:  The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City, disc 1 (Pi Recordings, PI20, 2006, United States, cdx2, discogs.com)

May 7, 2024
Half the men labored to clear additional land for both shelter and agriculture. Others worked with the felled timber to construct a long house to serve as a shared dwelling until smaller private homes followed. Still others gathered stones from a nearby sinkhole, depositing them in a line along the perimeter of the camp to act as a kind of growing fortification against invaders, be they sailors in the service of foreign powers or pirates unaffiliated with any government. A watch was set at night, lest the fruits of their labor fall prey to nocturnal raids.

written while listening to:  Joëlle Léandre Project - untitled (Leo Records, CD LR 287, 2000, United Kingdom, cd, discogs.com)

May 8, 2024
The women too had little opportunity to lounge about. Not only did the cooking and laundry fall to them, but they were assigned the weaving of thatch for roofs and the gathering of fresh water from a nearby stream. The consoling of their husbands was also a task that they did not shirk. Even when they relocated from the beach to the long house, the sounds of love-making, rendered as inconspicuous as possible, given the public accommodations, murmured through the darkness. All expected children to be born on Tenedos, a first generation that would assume leadership of the colony in due time.

written while listening to:  Frode Gjerstad & Matthew Shipp - We Speak (Relative Pitch Records, RPR1154, 2023, United States, cd, discogs.com)

May 9, 2024
Europe worked alongside the other women. She was not prone to sulking. Of her inner turmoil, she said nothing. However, she felt her solitude keenly, for where the colonists poured their time, energy and indeed their very selves into the construction of their new home, Europe could only perceive the labor as a way to stave off idleness. Her inability to give of herself further isolated her from everyone else. Although no words were exchanged on this subject, she could not help but suspect that the Cretans viewed her as an outsider who did not belong.

written while listening to:  Maria Bertel - Monophonic (Relative Pitch Records, RPRSS030, 2024, United States, cd, discogs.com)

May 10, 2024
Berenike seemed possessed of an endless store of concern. Not only did she tend to her husband and continue to reassure the other wives with regular, optimistic observations, she also kept a watchful eye on her sister. When it seemed her silences lasted too long, she would seek out Europe. Approaching her in the clearing, their peploses tied high on their thighs, their legs splattered with mud to the knees, she leaned over and hugged her. Europe for her part did not pull away but allowed the embrace to last for as long Berenike deemed necessary.

written while listening to:  Amir ElSaffar - Alchemy (Pi Recordings, PI51, 2013, United States, cd, discogs.com)

May 11, 2024
Tenedos spanned six miles from east to west. An equal distance separated the far side of the island from the mainland, where Aeolian Greeks and Hittites clashed, each seeking to wrest control of the coast from the other. The Cretan colonists discovered tracks in the interior of the island, indicating the presence of another settlement. Some furtive reconnaissance confirmed the presence of a Hittite village established on the far, east shore. In a matter of weeks, two scouts from that village were observed on a ridge over-looking the colony. The men did not initiate contact but apparently returned home to make their report.

written while listening to:  Morton Feldman - Patterns in a Chromatic Field (Tzadik, TZ 8002, 2004, United States, cd, discogs.com)

May 12, 2024
The conversation in the long house that evening was consumed by the sighting of the Hittites. Many were the questions raised. Why had the two scouts kept their distance? Would they return on the morrow with a war party or a peaceful delegation? None among the Cretans spoke more than a word or two of Hittite. A sailor who had traveled to Tarsus claimed the Hittites worshipped one thousand gods, chief among them a goddess who had risen from infernal depths to seize the sun and thus control the fate of their crops. The watch was doubled and each man kept a spear at arm's reach.

written while listening to:  Andrew Cyrille - X Man (Black Saint, 121262-2, 1994, Italy, cd, discogs.com)

May 13, 2024
Each woman was distributed a dagger and told to keep it on her person at all times. Most of them had gutted a pig or skinned a goat and knew how to handle a knife. The men discussed confining the women to the near vicinity of the long house for their own safety. One wife with a feisty temper, Enyo, voiced her displeasure before the rule was adopted. She climbed to her feet and demonstrated how she would demurely hide the blade behind one thigh, then thrust it forward into the belly of her would-be assailant before fleeing back to the safety of the colony.

written while listening to:  Egberto Gismonti - Selected Recordings (ECM Records, :rarum XI, 2004 (orig. 1978-1991), Germany, cd, discogs.com)

May 14, 2024
Enyo promised to teach every woman in the colony how to kill a Hittite. This seemed to amuse the magistrate, who had partaken in too much wine. He encouraged her to provide an example of her instruction to the assembly. Enyo called Berenike to join her up front, but she was too shy and instead volunteered Europe, who acquiesced. With daggers in hand, the women faced each other. Europe had the advantage of height but Enyo possessed a stockier frame. Enyo growled and deepened her voice. "Look at the lean morsel I have found!" she shouted to the crowd.

written while listening to:  Bob Stagner, Mike Baggetta & Evan Lipson - Triage (Ramble Records, RAM 129, 2023, Australia, digital files, discogs.com)

May 15, 2024
In the moment that Enyo lunged forward, Europe considered her options. She could either remain still, allowing her unpreparedness to serve as a lesson to the other women, or she could attempt to defend herself. Both options seemed equally meaningless. Europe had no training of any kind in fighting or self-defense but her year in the labyrinth had instilled in her a dauntlessness. What damage could this woman inflict that her long incarceration had not already wrought? She stepped to the side and, taking advantage of her long reach, used her empty hand to push the rushing Enyo past her.

written while listening to:  Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan & Buddy de Franco - untitled (Gene Norman Presents, GNP-26, 1957, United States, lp, discogs.com)

May 16, 2024
The audience erupted in cheers. Enyo whirled about, irritated to be out-maneuvered before others. Realizing yet another error in judgment, Europe dropped her dagger, which clattered to the floor. "I surrender," she said, "I'm no match for you." Her submission cooled Enyo's temper but disappointed the crowd. Europe then allowed Enyo to teach her how to deflect a thrust with one hand and strike with the other. Several women tried it after Europe picked up her dagger and returned to sit beside Berenike, who wondered again at the untold history of her sister.

written while listening to:  Sonny Rollins - On Impulse (Impulse!, AS-91, 1965, United States, lp, discogs.com)

May 17, 2024
On the following day, no Hittite delegation, neither diplomatic nor bellicose, appeared and work resumed. The trireme, which had borne them to Tenedos, still sat moored on the beach. It was a significant investment by the Minoan government but the crew who had powered it to the colony intended to stay. Still the vessel was too cumbersome for fishing. Trees set aside to make a smaller boat had been planed. The shipwright oversaw the construction of a trehantiri, a "donkey of the sea". All avidly monitored the progress; their provisions dwindled and fish was to become a staple of their diet.

written while listening to:  Miles Davis - Filles de Kilimanjaro (CBS, S 63551, 1968, United Kingdom, lp, discogs.com)

May 18, 2024
The colonists had brought with them two fishing nets, strung from woven flax. Both had seen little usage and were in good condition. All the same, women inspected them and mended imperfections. Vats of pine tar had also been transported to Tenedos for the express purpose of water-proofing hulls. Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been mixed with wax, to reduce friction, before being applied but the colony supplies had been limited to a single vessel and some luxuries were foregone. When the resin had cured on the first trehantiri, there was a celebration the night before it sailed into service.

written while listening to:  John Zorn - The Parachute Years, disc 1 (Tzadik, TZ 7316, 1997 (rec. 1978), United States, cdx7, discogs.com)

May 19, 2024
With little experience at sea, Kallias was not chosen to man the fishing boat. Disappointed to remain behind, he continued his duties felling trees. Nevertheless he joined the village in greeting the vessel upon its return. An excitement spread across the crowd on the beach as the fishermen gestured toward the nets laden with the bounty of the sea. One man raised a fish high and called out, "Turbot!", which was met with cheers. Tossing it back in the net, he followed with "Bream!" and "Red mullet!" Each name was cheered as if an infant at its ten-day naming ceremony.

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

May 20, 2024
The combined labor of more than two hundred men and women intent on construction resulted in rapid progress. Seeds of wheat and barley were sown. Two rows of olive saplings and several rows of grape seeds were planted, knowing that three seasons must pass before fruit was produced. Their planting was a positive sign on several counts, as it showed the long term commitment of the colonists, the relative stability allowing them to think beyond needs of the moment and an optimism that they would still be found on Tenedos after three years passing.

written while listening to:  Catherine Sikora & Susan Alcorn - Filament (Relative Pitch Records, RPR1173, 2024, United States, cd, discogs.com)

May 21, 2024
Free-standing, smaller residences began to be built, arranged around a square before the long house. Each was occupied as it was completed according to positions of seniority. The magistrate and his wife moved out first, followed by the captain. The bulk of the men, common laborers, in whose number Kallias was included, had lowest priority. Still, for the less privileged, communal living in the long house became somewhat more spacious as others left for private accommodations. In truth, Europe preferred the current arrangement, knowing no single woman would be granted a separate home.

written while listening to:  Trance Map+ - Etching the Ether (Intakt Records, Intakt CD 409, 2023, Switzerland, cd, discogs.com)

May 22, 2024
While out gathering firewood, two women spotted a Hittite scout observing them from a distance. Armed with an iron-tipped spear and garbed in a belted tunic, the man's impassive expression was cast on a tanned face with sloping forehead and protruding jaw. They read in his gaze the hunger of a wolf for a doe. Dropping their bundles, the women retreated until they found Kallias and two others. The men ventured forth to discover the Hittite unmoved from his perch on a log. They too saw in his unflinching scrutiny a temerity that bordered on threat.

written while listening to:  Toshimaru Nakamura & Sachiko M - Do (Erstwhile Records, erstwhile 013, 2001, United States, cd, discogs.com)

May 23, 2024
Maintaining a measured distance, they stopped, allowing the foreigner to see that he was outnumbered by men armed with axes. Kallias addressed the Hittite in the Doric dialect without success. The scout responded with a barked phrase in Hittite, which also met blank stares. He next attempted an incomprehensible dialect, barely identifiable to their ears as some doggerel Greek, before abandoning the effort and disappearing into the woods. Kallias and the others offered no pursuit. They finished their labor and returned at the end of the work day to share their tale with the rest of the village.

written while listening to:  Ground Zero - untitled (God Mountain, GMCD-002, 1993, Japan, cd, discogs.com)

May 24, 2024
The magistrate, Isodemus, reprimanded Kallias for not immediately bringing the encounter with the Hittite to his attention. He then demonstrated his beneficence by forgiving the three common laborers for their error. Workers could hardly be expected to make strategic decisions in the heat of the moment. None too discreetly did Europe roll her eyes, prompting Berenike to elbow her in the ribs, lest her impudence bring them trouble. A discussion ensued regarding whether the Hittite had attempted to communicate in the Aeolic dialect of Thessaly or, less likely, the Attic tongue of Athens.

written while listening to:  John Coltrane - A Love Supreme (Impulse!, AS-77, 1965, United States, lp, discogs.com)

May 25, 2024
Isodemus deemed communication with their neighbors essential before a misunderstanding resulted in bloodshed that could easily expand into broader hostilities. He asked among the men who spoke Aeolic and who Attic. One man confirmed he knew the Aeolic tongue; his father, a sailor, had during his travels brought home a wife from Volos. None knew the Attic tongue for King Minos regarded Athens as the den of the enemy and forbade the import of its depraved culture to Crete. Kallias, eager to redeem himself in the eyes of the magistrate, volunteered the information that his sister-in-law spoke Attic.

written while listening to:  Company 91 - Volume 3 (Incus Records, CD 18, 1994 (rec. 1991), United Kingdom, cd, discogs.com)

May 26, 2024
On the following morning, Kallias brought the man with the Aoelian mother, Timon by name, to fell trees in the area near where the Hittite had been encountered. Before noon, the scout reappeared. Kallias hailed him, approaching within a dozen paces. The three men engaged in a round-robin of languages with Kallias going first, speaking again in the Doric dialect, followed by the Hittite responding in his native tongue. Timon then conveyed in Aeolic that they were peaceful settlers. Finally, the Hittite shook his head and spoke his own crude Greek, which neither Cretan was able to decipher.

written while listening to:  Cecil Taylor - Air Above Mountains (Enja Records, ENJ-3005 2, 1992 (rec. 1976), Germany, cd, discogs.com)

May 27, 2024
Isodemus questioned Europe as to how she had come to know the tongue of the enemy. It was her first interaction with the magistrate and she did not appreciate his suspicious tone. Hadn't the colonists fled Crete to escape a tyrant? What good did it do them to install a petty bureaucrat in his place? Fortunately, she had become well-practiced at keeping her thoughts to herself. Also, since she had arrived at the recent revelation that these events transpiring around her could not possibly constitute her life, she took no offense at his arrogance during the interrogation. His words must have been directed at someone else.

written while listening to:  Carpet Floor - Mass Ejection (Forehead Eye, FE-3, 2007, United States, cd, discogs.com)

May 28, 2024
She admitted no more than that, in her travels, she'd had extended opportunity to converse with those who spoke Attic as their native tongue. Her unwillingness to be wholly forthcoming was not lost on the magistrate. This episode sowed a seed of distrust in him. Nevertheless, he ordered Kallias to take Europe into the forest on the morrow to see if she could understand the Hittite's garbled attempts at Greek. When the three of them were alone, Berenike said, "Be careful, both of you." To her husband she added, "Bring my sister home safely."

written while listening to:  Henry Grimes, Dave Burrell, Roberto Pettinato & Tyshawn Sorey - Same Egg, disc 2 (Sony Music, 3782002, 2013, Argentina, cdx2, discogs.com)

May 29, 2024
Europe stayed within earshot of the thumping of Kallias' axe against the trunks of trees. She explored beyond the valley of stumps, where the trees had already been harvested, deeper into the forest. She ascended a slope to reach a ridge with a better view of the local terrain. When she arrived at the peak, she found the Hittite climbing the other side. They met amidst a copse of myrtles, laden with pink blooms. In Attic she ordered him to come no closer. He paused and replied in the same dialect, albeit heavily-accented, that he did not take orders from women.

written while listening to:  Loren Mazzacane - Hell's Kitchen Park (Black Label, 1, 1993, United States, cd, discogs.com)

May 30, 2024
Europe explained to him that she was not a woman, that this was not her life, that it was impossible for her to have fled from a minotaur who did not exist only to find herself trapped on a remote, northern island. The Hittite, whose Attic vocabulary was limited, struggled to understand the words. Since the logic made no sense to him, he assumed that he had misunderstood her. Because he thought all who spoke Attic were Athenians, he asked, "Why is Athens building a colony here?" Europe corrected him, "These people are not from Athens, but Knossos."

written while listening to:  Søren Kjærgaard, Ben Street & Andrew Cyrille - Optics (ILK Music, ILK 140CD, 2008, Denmark, cd, discogs.com)

May 31, 2024
Kallias found Europe and the Hittite conversing among the myrtle blooms as if they were negotiating prices at a fruit vendor's stall. Each seemed to want something from the transaction. Europe introduced Kallias, "This man is married to my sister." The Hittite nodded to Kallias whom he recognized from their previous two meetings. With the presence of another male, Europe's role was reduced to that of an interpreter. The Hittite asked how long they planned to remain on the island, though he called it by a name other than Tenedos. Kallias replied, "This is our home."

written while listening to:  Ellen Fullman, David Gamper & Stuart Dempster - Pink Sea Thrift (Fo'c'sle Records, FCSL-001, 2018, United States, lp, discogs.com)