The Poison Pie Publishing House presents:

November 1, 2024
On their backs they carried linen, bundled in rolls. The workmanship was competent but unremarkable. Anaïs explained, "We have no desire to build a reputation as fine artisans, lest we attract unwanted attention. You are now part of a village that seeks no accolades." With her eyes on the footpath unwinding before her, Europe allowed a faint smile to emerge because, of course, having escaped the labyrinth, it was her highest aspiration to remain unknown. From lofty boughs, an unfamiliar bird song reached her ears. She glanced upward but spied no feathered singers. Apparently, they too preferred anonymity.

written while listening to:  Isabelle Olivier - Dodecasongs, disc 1 (Enja Records, 9718 2, 2012, Germany, cdx2, discogs.com)

November 2, 2024
On their return to Antissa, Anaïs led them along a more or less straight path. The entire hike lasted slightly more than six hours, primarily on a downward slope from the interior of the island to the coast. They did not follow the Voulgaris River for they came from further east. Europe knew that Anaïs had not brought her directly to the village but she was surprised by its close proximity to the Aeolian settlement. It reinforced in her the need for the great care with which the women strove to maintain their secret. Thus she took in stride the unnecessary reminder to say nothing of their home.

written while listening to:  Emanuele Maniscalco - Slow Band (re:think-artrecords, re 0110 2362002, 2010, Italy, cd, discogs.com)

November 3, 2024
Descending into town, Europe observed that a trireme sat moored in port; the incoming tide caused the bare masts to sway gently. Anaïs brought them to the store of the bearded shopkeeper, who had greeted Europe when she first arrived. He recognized her and Anaïs as well. To Europe he said, "Found your way, have you?" He invited them to set down their wares in the backroom. Perspiration formed a damp rectangle on the back of their peploses where the bundles had rested. "You look like you could use something to drink. Come back when you're ready and we'll settle up."

written while listening to:  Anna Webber - Rectangles (Out of Your Head Records, OOYH U002, 2020, United States, digital files, discogs.com)

November 4, 2024
A sufficient rapport existed between Anaïs and the shopkeeper that she left the linen bundles in his care. Before the meal, Europe asked to briefly visit Kynthia, just to say hello to a friendly face. However, they found the door to the guesthouse closed. When a knock elicited no response, they went to eat. Anaïs headed to an open square, filled with wooden tables and lined by several restaurants. There, they found a hubbub, for the bulk of the sailors who had disembarked from the ship in port were eager to be fed something fresher than on-board rations.

written while listening to:  Agustí Fernández & Derek Bailey - Barcelona (Hopscotch, HOP 10, 2002, United States, cd, discogs.com)

November 5, 2024
At the long tables sat nigh three score men, not a full complement for a trireme, Europe noted. Perhaps the other half remained down at the beach, visiting in stages, lest they overwhelm the locals. A flustered barmaid pulled a pair of chairs around a barrel, located some distance from the crowd, and bade them be patient. The two women took care to avoid making eye contact with the sailors, for they did not want to engage them. Still, the visitors' voices were loud and it proved impossible not to hear snatches of their conversation.

written while listening to:  Keiji Haino - Who Knew That So Many Blues Should Reside Here Too... (Hören, MIMI-028, 2020, Japan, cd, discogs.com)

November 6, 2024
The men had sailed from Thessaly in a separate vessel and had recently captured the trireme, now resting in the harbor. Their captain had ordered the crew split between two ships. Left in charge, the helmsman had guided them to the safe port of Antissa, where they waited while others went to collect reinforcements. There appeared to have been a skirmish in the taking of the ship. Europe and Anaïs heard more than one toast to a fallen comrade as well as concern expressed for the injured whose fate yet hung in the balance.

written while listening to:  The Art Ensemble of Chicago - The Meeting (Pi Recordings, PI07, 2003, United States, cd, discogs.com)

November 7, 2024
There was such a delay in being served that a lantern glowed in the window by the time they returned to the store. The shopkeeper greeted Anaïs, saying, "I've already sold your blankets to our visitors, and for more than a shiny drachm I might add. They need them down at the beach." The unexpected profit had put him in a generous mood. "If you're willing to deliver them for me, I'll throw in something extra for your time." Although both women were weary from their long day, they opted not to dampen the high spirits of the merchant and agreed to his request.

written while listening to:  Joëlle Léandre & India Cooke - Firedance (Red Toucan Records, RT 9327, 2005, Canada, cd, discogs.com)

November 8, 2024
At the beach, they found the encampment of the crew set up in the shadow of the trireme. The pink light of dusk illuminated a row of several men being tended to by two women, each with a male assistant. Europe recognized one of the men as Thestor. Approaching him, she then discerned that he worked alongside his wife. The keepers of the guesthouse had no time to greet her properly for their attention remained fixed on the injured sailors under their care. Seeing their burden, Kynthia said, "Set the blankets down over there. We'll use them presently."

written while listening to:  David S. Ware Quartet - Live In Vilnius, sides C & D (NoBusiness Records, NBLP 4/5, 2009, Lithuania, lpx2, discogs.com)

November 9, 2024
Anaïs and Europe stood beside the line of sailors. Their injuries varied. One appeared to have been clubbed over the head. His face had been washed clean and linen wound across his brow. Another had been stabbed in the abdomen with a knife. A spot of blood seeped through the bandage wrapped around his waist. He struggled to draw breath. Feeling useless, Anaïs asked Thestor if there was anything they could do to ease the man's suffering. Thestor shook his head, conveying without words that the matter was now out of their hands.

written while listening to:  Ornella Noulet - Promise Of Faithfulness (Relative Pitch Records, RPRSS035, 2024, United States, cd, discogs.com)

November 10, 2024
Europe stepped away from grim sight of the dying man. She turned her attention to the sun setting behind the captured trireme. The tide split around it and joined again on the beach. Lit from behind, the vessel was not quite completely a silhouette. Europe found something strangely familiar about it. She walked around the ship to quietly inspect it in better light. Within a few minutes she had removed all doubt that this was the same trireme in which she had traveled from Knossos and upon which she had gazed each morning for half a year in Tenedos.

written while listening to:  Jen Shyu - Song of Silver Geese (Pi Recordings, PI72, 2017, United States, cd, discogs.com)

November 11, 2024
She dared not speak of her discovery to Anaïs within earshot of the sailors, for she was until lately a resident of the settlement from which this ship had been taken. More than one among the men might find her death fitting retribution for the injuries done to their mates. She was twice a fugitive now, from both labyrinth and colony. The suggestion that she could simply abandon her past struck her as more preposterous than ever. Mistaking the slump in her shoulders for weariness and shock at the hospital scene, Anaïs led Europe away from the beach.

written while listening to:  Marc Ribot - Shoe String Symphonettes (Tzadik, TZ 7504, 1997, United States, cd, discogs.com)

November 12, 2024
Anaïs let them into the guesthouse. She found an oil lamp on a table inside the door. She lit it with a piece of straw ignited by the lamp in the street. In the room that they had previously occupied, the two women claimed the same beds. By the light of the flickering tongue of flame did Anaïs observe Europe shaking. "What is the matter?" she exclaimed, for it was beyond imagination that the mere sight of blood could so rattle the calm demeanor of the woman she knew. In a flood of words, Europe revealed her shared origin with the trireme in port.

written while listening to:  Paul Bley & Paul Motian - Notes (Soul Note, SN 121 190-1, 1988, Italy, lp, discogs.com)

November 13, 2024
Initially Anaïs misunderstood the source of Europe's distress. "They can't possibly know that you are from the same colony. Even I didn't know until you told me. Neither of us will speak of it. Your secret is safe." From the expression on Europe's face, Anaïs perceived that something else upset her friend. "My sister," she said, "still lives in that colony." Europe paused, then added, "If Berenike yet lives at all." Separately, they arrived at a similar conclusion that the sailors on the beach represented the victorious force from the battle and the blood shed by the defeated side would have been much worse.

written while listening to:  Carla Bley - Selected Recordings (ECM Records, :rarum XV, 2004 (orig. 1961-2000), Germany, cd, discogs.com)

November 14, 2024
Europe did not want to contemplate the death of Berenike. "Do you think the women of the colony were captured?" she asked Anaïs. "Maybe my sister and the other women from Tenedos are bound in the hold of that ship." Anaïs neither denied nor encouraged Europe's fretful speculation. When Europe stood, intent on seeking answers to her fears, Anaïs immediately cautioned against it. "You are in no state to go back down there. You might well reveal the secret you seek to hide. I will go in your stead, but only if you promise to remain here until I return."

written while listening to:  Patrick Shiroishi, Chaz Prymek & Thom Nguyen - Eventually The River Rises Here Too, Same As It Always Has (Ramble Records, RAM 155, 2024, Australia, lp, discogs.com)

November 15, 2024
Thus did a weary Anaïs walk to the beach. She first approached Thestor, asking again to help, so as to establish a pretense for her presence. Later, she picked up two blankets and walked through the camp, thinking to offer them to one in need and listening as she went. It was a risky proposition for she did not want to be mistaken as a prostitute. She completed her circuit unmolested. Of the conversation she overheard, there was no mention of captives or women. To the contrary, every snippet pointed toward a massacre, with no colonists left alive.

written while listening to:  Chet Baker - Smokin' with the Chet Baker Quintet (Prestige, PRST 7449, 1966, United States, lp, discogs.com)

November 16, 2024
In the guesthouse, Anaïs reported her findings to Europe, who grew visibly distressed. She collapsed on the bed, laying on her side and facing the wall. Extinguishing the lamp, Anaïs lay down beside Europe, her forehead resting against the crook of a shoulder blade. Europe's breathing gradually calmed until she fell asleep. Long after, Anaïs remained awake in the darkness. She heard Kynthia and Thestor enter the house, though she did not rise to greet them. It was all she could do to, by her presence, offer solace to her grieving friend.

written while listening to:  Sonny Rollins - The Complete Prestige Recordings, disc 1 (Prestige, 7PCD-4407-2, 1992 (rec. 1949 & 1951), United States, cdx7, discogs.com)

November 17, 2024
Come dawn, Anaïs detected not mourning but a steely determination in Europe. When asked to accompany her to the river, she did so without question. In the chilly waters, they bathed. Standing midstream, Europe declared, "I refuse to dwell in misery." Anaïs nodded but did not reply, sensing there was more to come. "I must return to Tenedos to search for my sister." Her words rang out in the amber twilight. There was a clarity to her conviction that Anaïs admired. At the same time, her role in this instance was not to be one of feckless adulation.

written while listening to:  Miles Davis - On The Corner (Columbia, KC 31906, 1972, United States, lp, discogs.com)

November 18, 2024
"There is no reasonable hope that she could yet be alive," Anaïs said in a somber tone. Though she had feared an outburst from Europe, her words elicited a tempered response. "I know," said Europe, "but this unreasonable hope buoys my heart and I shall not abandon it." The languid current of the Voulgaris shifted past them. Anaïs did not expect the waters to wash the foolish delusion from Europe for she knew her stubbornness. "Your sister is dead," Anaïs said firmly. Europe's reply was equally insistent. "Then I shall go and bury her."

written while listening to:  John Zorn - The Parachute Years, disc 7 (Tzadik, TZ 7316, 1997 (rec. 1979), United States, cdx7, discogs.com)

November 19, 2024
"You cannot go without the permission of the elders," Anaïs said, "You've only just pledged yourself to our village." Europe's resolute stance was unchanged. "What if I should return with you to the village, only to have them deny me the right to bury my sister? What would I do then?" Anaïs had no satisfactory reply. Europe could see the conflict in her companion, who yearned to help her while holding to the rules of her people. "I don't want to hurt you," Europe said, "Do you think they would grant me passage to Tenedos?" Anaïs would not lie. "I do not."

written while listening to:  Tony Conrad - Early Minimalism Volume One, disc 3 (Table of the Elements, As 33, 1997, United States, cdx4, discogs.com)

November 20, 2024
"All you women have banded together to throw off the yoke that men would place around your necks," said Europe, not bothering to conceal the disdain from her voice. "Yet you would allow some among your number to hold a like dominion over you. You've just traded one master for another." Of course, these words stung Anaïs but she did not refute them, for they carried a grain of truth. She swallowed a protest that her new masters were kind, for their rigid adherence to the laws of the village cast a long shadow over their kindness.

written while listening to:  Susan Alcorn - In-Yu (Longform Editions, LE150, 2024, Australia, digital file, discogs.com)

November 21, 2024
Europe strode to the bank and collected her peplos but she did not immediately don it. Instead, she carried it in a bundle over her head. Re-entering the river, she began to wade to the far side. "You're leaving now?" Anaïs shouted in disbelief. "You haven't even got your traveling bag or your knife or food and water." Europe turned, "What need have I for all that? I had nothing when I crawled out of the earth on Crete! I had no supplies when I boarded a ship to Tenedos." Europe lowered her voice. "I am a wanderer and I make do."

written while listening to:  Wadada Leo Smith & Joe Morris - Earth's Frequencies (Fundacja Słuchaj!, FSR 01/2024, 2024, Poland, cd, discogs.com)

November 22, 2024
Turning her back to Anaïs, Europe continued to wade to the far bank. "You are a stubborn idiot!" Anaïs shouted. "How will you get to Tenedos? Are you going to swim there?" Europe paused and looked over her shoulder. She could not ignore the pain that she caused in her friend. "Come with me," she said. The invitation was exactly what Anaïs wanted to hear and, at the same time, a plea that she dared not accept. "You would have me forsake my home." Her soft voice carried the words across the water.

written while listening to:  Keith Rowe - September (Erstwhile Records, ErstLive 011, 2012, United States, cd, discogs.com)

November 23, 2024
"We shall go to Tenedos," Europe declared. "We shall find my sister dead or alive. Either way, we will return to the village and together face the judgment of the elders. If you come with me, dear Anaïs, this I promise you. I shall stand before all and declare that I left you no choice, for how could you abandon your friend to this heavy task, which she could not put aside?" Anaïs shrugged in defeat. To her weak protest that they possessed no means to sail to Tenedos, Europe revealed she had left a dinghy hidden on the coast.

written while listening to:  Ground Zero - Plays Standards (Nani Records, NCD-201, 1997, Japan, cd, discogs.com)

November 24, 2024
"I am not leaving without my knife," said Anaïs, thinking to extract some concession, however minor, from her friend. Europe relented, wading back to the near side of the river. She wrapped her arms around a forlorn Anaïs and held her in a lasting hug. A warm thrill of belonging surged through her, such as she had not felt since before her departure from Athens. Anaïs rested her head against Europe's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "You are still a stubborn idiot."

written while listening to:  Charles Mingus - Changes One (Atlantic Records, 1677, 1975, United States, lp, discogs.com)

November 25, 2024
At the guest house, the two women collected not only their knives, but their bedding and other travel gear. Kynthia had already returned to the beach to check on the injured. Thestor noted the abruptness of their departure but none of the women of the village, Anaïs least of all, had ever felt it necessary to explain their comings and goings to him so, without query, the old man wished them well on their travels. They replenished their provisions at the store, promising to claim the payment from the shopkeeper upon their return. While crossing the Voulgaris, they refilled their waterskins.

written while listening to:  Company - Fictions (Incus Records, INCUS 38, 1981, United Kingdom, lp, discogs.com)

November 26, 2024
Europe and Anaïs traveled west along the road that led through the fig orchards. There they found late fruit still ripe for the picking. As they paused to gather a few, Europe sensed the lingering doubt of Anaïs. She was tempted to offer encouraging words but ultimately found them unnecessary, for once Anaïs had made up her mind she would not renege on her agreement. Europe would not go to Tenedos alone, that is, she reminded herself, so long as she could locate the Hittite boat. This uncertainty she kept to herself.

written while listening to:  Cecil Taylor & Mat Maneri - Algonquin (Bridge Records, BRIDGE 9146, 2004, United States, cd, discogs.com)

November 27, 2024
The orchard gave way to wayward fig trees spreading through the wild. Soon the shore came back into in view. To the rhythm of the surf, the two women walked along the margin between the sands of beach and the brush to which it yielded inland. Coming upon the brackish swamp, Europe wished for the spotted cuckoo to greet her with its call again but neither the bird nor its song appeared. She did spot a moorhen among the reeds, which reassured her that she continued in the right direction. Lest the waterfowl think she was abandoning Lesbos, Europe mouthed, "I refuse to dwell in misery."

written while listening to:  Amidea Clotet & Marcel-lí Bayer - Dual Polarity (Call It Anything Records, CIA-12, 2022, Spain, cd, discogs.com)

November 28, 2024
When the beach curved north, Europe recognized the peninsula where she had first made landfall. Now she kept to the coast more faithfully, for each scattered patch of brush and tree heath looked much like the others. As the day drew into afternoon, they rounded the northern-most promontory and followed the shore south again into one of the many small coves that decorated the seaboard. Meandering between dune and hillock, Anaïs surmised that there was a more direct route to the boat, but she knew as well as anyone the manifold purposes of a winding path.

written while listening to:  Lage Lund with Sullivan Fortner, Larry Grenadier & Tyshawn Sorey - Terrible Animals (Criss Cross Jazz, Criss 1402 CD, 2019, The Netherlands, cd, discogs.com)

November 29, 2024
In a narrow inlet, Europe found the dinghy pulled ashore between two scraggly bushes. Concealing her relief, she helped Anaïs slide the boat into the water. Both looked northward but could not espy their destination on the blue horizon. Anaïs then turned to bestow a wistful glance at the slope of the land rising behind them. "We'll be back in a few days," Europe assured her. Hoping to coax a smile from her companion, she added, "The ire of the elders will wait for us." She succeeded, at least, in prompting Anaïs to climb aboard.

written while listening to:  Loren Mazzacane Connors - Long Nights (Table of the Elements, Ca 20, 1996, United States, cd, discogs.com)

November 30, 2024
At sea, Europe took control of the sail from the stern. Anaïs immediately observed her near total lack of rudimentary sailing knowledge and skill. She allowed a short time for Europe to show her true form but saw no improvement. "You've no idea how to sail at all!" she exclaimed. When Europe confessed that she did not, Anaïs added, "It was truly dumb luck that delivered you to me." She insisted that they switch seats. When Europe sat in the bow, she marveled at Anaïs' adept handling of the vessel, one absent arm notwithstanding.

written while listening to:  Sacha Perry, Ben Street & Kresten Osgood - Low Tide (Gotta Let It Out, GLIO67CD, 2024, Denmark, digital files, discogs.com)