The Poison Pie Publishing House presents:

January 1, 2025
It is a habit of idle individuals with time on their hands to devise arbitrary categories by which to understand people. Being just such a person, the author suggests a binary taxonomy in which there are only two varieties of people—those who find an intrinsic meaning in their existence and those who do not. Among the latter, there is a further dichotomy into those who are able to make peace with a meaningless world and those who fight it. Melite, the heroine of this tale, offers a lesson in grace, which blurs these distinctions.

written while listening to:  Emanuele Maniscalco - From Solesmes To Solanas (self-released, no catalog #, 2015, Denmark, digital files, discogs.com)

January 2, 2025
Only child of Tricorythus, nobleman of Athens, Melite knew a pampered upbringing. Her mother embraced no calling save to tend to husband and daughter, and her devotion to family was flawless, as if the inclinations of her nature could not have been more perfectly aligned with the actuality of her daily life. From the moment that Melite was wrapped in swaddling cloths of fine linen, she enjoyed a maternal warmth as reliable as the coming of dawn. Shielded from adversity, Melite had little opportunity to develop the ordinary mechanisms for coping with hardship.

written while listening to:  Guillaume Gargaud - She (Utech Records, URCD027, 2009, United States, cd, discogs.com)

January 3, 2025
Melite grew into a gentle adolescence. Petite in stature, adults tended to her as if she were younger than her years. Such treatment did not disturb Melite; she wanted for nothing and the desire for freedoms outside her experience had not yet entered her heart. Her mother cupped her daughter's round face in her hands. She gazed into the large doe eyes and ran her fingers over the full cheeks and heart-shaped lips. She drew a deep breath with her face buried in the long, straight, brown hair. Her senses could not detect the dire trials soon to come.

written while listening to:  Magda Mayas, Christoph Erb & Gerry Hemingway - Hour Music (Veto Records, d005, 2024, Switzerland, digital files, discogs.com)

January 4, 2025
Before her forced exodus from Athens, the singular trait of Melite's character was already plainly evident. No one could do her injury for she forgave everyone and everything. We offer no justification for this idiosyncrasy. We do not believe this quality to have been intentionally cultivated. On the contrary, it appears that Melite was simply made to forgive. So many things in the world come out wrong. To pardon transgressors is, of course, a virtue. However, to do so without exception is incongruous with the reality of the world, then and now.

written while listening to:  Derek Bailey - More 74 Solo Guitar Improvisations (Incus Records, INCUS CD60, 2010 (rec. 1974), United Kingdom, cd, discogs.com)

January 5, 2025
When Melite was sixteen, a festival honoring the city's patron goddess, Athena, arrived with the usual fanfare. The celebration, held every four years, included religious services at the temple on the Acropolis, dramatic performances at the theater, and athletic competitions in the stadium. The games attracted Greeks from far and wide—Sparta, Thessaly and even distant Massalia. The Cretan prince Androgeos distinguished himself in two ways, first by his athletic prowess, sweeping competitions of strength and speed, and second by his boorish gloating, which persisted far into the nightly bacchanals.

written while listening to:  Keiji Haino - Live February 21, 2008 (Purple Trap, 001, 2008, Japan, dvd, discogs.com)

January 6, 2025
Had it been left to Melite, she would have forgiven Androgeos his excessive boasting. Young men, especially those with royal blood, were not known as paragons of humility. However, others in Athens proved less understanding. On the last night of the festival, fueled by too much alcohol, a group of local youths ambushed the Cretan prince, putting an end to his insufferable bragging and leaving him dead in the street. The killing of the decorated athlete was the talk of the town on the following morning. In markets, gossipers debated whether the fate was deserved.

written while listening to:  Joëlle Léandre - At the Le Mans Jazz Festival, disc 1 (Leo Records, LR 458/459, 2006, United Kingdom, cdx2, discogs.com)

January 7, 2025
Melite would also have forgiven the murderers for their crime, such was her nature. However, a week later when King Minos, visiting Paros, learned of his son's death, he was not so accommodating. To the contrary, he assembled an army and shortly brought war to the walls of Athens. Melite's experience of the siege came only through scarcity due to rationing of provisions and whispers shared by women visiting her mother. It was said that Minos had failed to take the city. Yet he remained outside the walls, as famine approached and pestilence invaded the lower ward.

written while listening to:  Susan Alcorn - Sur (Uma Sounds, no catalog #, 2024 (orig. 2002), United States, digital files, discogs.com)

January 8, 2025
Rumors circulated in the city that, upon the advice of the oracle, four sisters had been sacrificed to avert the plague. Melite prayed in vain that there was no truth to the hearsay. Regardless, the siege and the scourge continued. The city leaders then treated with Minos who decreed his departure contingent upon the periodic surrender of fourteen noble scions—seven young men and seven maidens—to be sacrificed to the Minotaur, caged in a maze beneath Knossos. The people of Athens initially dismissed this offer as an outrageous demand, until their elected assembly conceded to it.

written while listening to:  Tyshawn Sorey Trio - Continuing, sides A & B (Pi Recordings, PI98, 2023, United States, lpx2, discogs.com)

January 9, 2025
The assembly of Athens debated at length the mechanism by which the fourteen would be selected. They agreed upon a random lottery, so as to let blame lie with the gods. The men also approved a motion that no family should surrender more than one child; the city's grief should be distributed. Other amendments proved unsuccessful. An attempt to exempt firstborn sons failed. Tricorythus called for households with only one child to be spared, but his motion did not garner much support, most citizens having large families. At home, he kept silent.

written while listening to:  Nicole Mitchell - Awakening (Delmark Records, DE 599, 2011, United States, cd, discogs.com)

January 10, 2025
To avoid any suspicion of manipulation, the lottery was conducted publicly. The names of the seven maidens were drawn first, each announced by one of the nine presidents of the assembly. "Periboea." Melite's stomach churned, for she knew most of the girls of noble birth. "Melanippe." She too was familiar to Melite. "Hesione." Melite's heart sank for Hesione always treated her as if she were a younger sister. So upset was Melite that she did not hear when her name was called next. Only the expression of horror on her mother's face revealed her fate.

written while listening to:  Isabelle Duthoit & Ocnos Arkestra - Chillar Todo el Día (Sentencia Records, SR-24 CD, 2024, Spain, cd, discogs.com)

January 11, 2025
Those chosen in the lottery were not allowed to return home lest they flee or mysteriously disappear, secreted in some country dwelling of remote kin. The youths were gathered in a square by soldiers, who separated them from their piteously weeping parents. Melite hugged her mother, who was then restrained by her father as she was pulled away. The voice of a priest rang out, silencing the murmur of the crowd. He praised the nobility of the fourteen; they accepted their lot so that their many loved ones in the great city of Athens would be spared from further depredation.

written while listening to:  Roscoe Mitchell & David Wessel - Contact, cd (RogueArt, ROG-0023, 2009, France, cd+dvd, discogs.com)

January 12, 2025
Melite could not disentangle the many emotions, which stormed inside her, but she doubted that nobility was to be found among them. Nevertheless, she forgave the priest his errant words just as she forgave the gods for devising a world where mad men reigned as kings and the innocent were sacrificed to appease their pride. Escorted to the port of Piraeus, Melite and her company immediately boarded a waiting galley. Though it was already noon, the ship then departed. So ended the siege of Athens, at least for those who escaped the heartache of losing a child.

written while listening to:  Matthew Shipp Chamber Ensemble - The Gospel According to Matthew & Michael (Relative Pitch Records, RPR1035, 2015, United States, cd, discogs.com)

January 13, 2025
The youths were packed in two locked compartments in the hold of the vessel. Because the low ceiling prevented them from standing upright, they settled into sitting positions. A few narrow gaps between planks in the deck overhead proved the only source of light during their journey. Four days their passage lasted. On the first two evenings, the ship moored at secluded beaches, where the oarsmen were fed then slept beneath stars. The captives briefly emerged onto the island shore. After a meal, they were returned to their cells for the night.

written while listening to:  Giovanni Di Domenico with Alexandra Grimal & Eric Thielemans - Echolalia (W.E.R.F., 230, 2024, Belgium, lp, discogs.com)

January 14, 2025
The ship spent the third night at sea, oarsmen dozing at their benches. After sharing scant rations, the seven young women sought what relief they might find in sleep. Although rocked by the gentle undulation of the waves, anxiety at their imminent meeting with the Minotaur prevented restful slumber. None spoke of the beast for they would meet it face to face soon enough. Hesione attempted to calm the other six, addressing them all as younger sisters, whom she loved. She could offer little hope but she promised to stay with them until the end.

written while listening to:  Luciana Bass - Desatornillándonos (Relative Pitch Records, RPRSS040, 2024, United States, cd, discogs.com)

January 15, 2025
For her part, Melite remained silent. What sentiments dwelt in her heart she did not have the inclination to share. When Andromache succumbed to bouts of weeping, Melite felt tears rim her eyes but she did not emit a sound. She was a gentle creature, doomed by chance and circumstance. Her sorrow would not be wasted on the caprice of an insentient universe. The sorrow of Melite was reserved for greater griefs. The other girls in the dark hold mistakenly interpreted her silence as a kind of mute paralysis induced by terror.

written while listening to:  Dan Weiss - Starebaby (Pi Recordings, PI74, 2018, United States, cd, discogs.com)

January 16, 2025
Preceded by the royal vessel, the remaining ships arrived just after dusk at a port on the northern coast of Crete. The capital of Knossos lay three miles south of the docks, so that night the sailors sought the hospitality of local taverns and inns. A less fortunate squad of soldiers stationed at the wharf formed the entourage of the king, who set out for the comfortable security of the palace. At the rear of this caravan the Athenian tribute walked, free of manacles and fetters, though all seemed too despondent to entertain thoughts of flight.

written while listening to:  Kawol Samarqandi - Noli Me Tangere (Ramble Records, RAM-175CD, 2024, Australia, digital files, discogs.com)

January 17, 2025
Melite had never traveled farther than the countryside surrounding Athens, though she was fond of hearing stories from visitors to the house who had seen foreign lands. Alas, clouds obscured the moon; her view of the monumental palace of King Minos, set atop the central hill of Knossos, was lost in darkness. As a group they ascended the many stairs. Turning aside just before the grand entrance, the youths were herded through a side gate reserved for servants and deliveries. From there they were deposited in a lower level that could not be mistaken for anything but a dungeon.

written while listening to:  Paul Bley & Gary Peacock - Mindset (Soul Note, 121213-2, 1997 (rec. 1992), Italy, cd, discogs.com)

January 18, 2025
Advisors to King Minos selected an auspicious date a week hence for the sacrifice. During this time, preparations were made for the simultaneous funeral of Androgeos, which had long been delayed by the siege. Far from sunlight, the Athenian tribute languished. Beginning at dawn on the day of the ceremony, a tremendous lamentation arose from the residents of the city, who feared the ire of their tyrant lord should he deem their wailing inadequate. The tumultuous mourning penetrated the stone palace even to those imprisoned in the lower levels.

written while listening to:  Chet Baker - Comin' On With The Chet Baker Quintet (Prestige, PRST 7478, 1967, United States, lp, discogs.com)