Joe Dolce:
Evil Eye
For a man to fear the gay male gaze, is to fear the Evil Eye or, rather, the Evil Not-I, the dissolution of self in narcissistic looking.
—Ellis Hanson
Great-great-great grandmother of Lacan’s Anxious Gaze,
Mulvey’s Male Gaze and the Nosferatu Predatory Gaze,
known in every culture—the Curse
cast by a malevolent stare.
Referred to in Plato, Plutarch and Pliny.
Traditional tribal wariness of those with green, or blue, eyes.
In Italy, Jettatore, high arching brows, a fixed look
that leaps from black sockets.
(Pius IV was known for his.)
Mak Pilau, in Hawaiian, rotten eyes, a ghost.
In Brazil, Olho Gordo, fat eye.
In Somali, Qumayo, envy eye.
Mal de Ojo, in Spain—the traditional cure:
a raw chicken egg, broken into a glass of water,
placed under the bed, if the yolk appears
cooked, the patient recovers.
Nazar, in Islam. Reading the last three chapters
of the Koran will ward it off, or a small black cloth, hung
from the bumper of your truck.
Often mistaken for the thousand-yard stare of battle-weary soldiers.
Also known as Stink Eye, Skunk Eye,
the Hairy Eyeball.
Joe Dolce
Robin Hood Roulette
I shot an arrow into the air.
—Longfellow
When I was thirteen,
my brother, eleven,
and I would take my bow,
and metal-tipped arrows,
to the local track oval,
to play one of our secret
dangerous games.
Launching a shaft
straight up, until
we lost sight of it,
having no idea where
it would land,
no place to shelter,
blessedly free,
we zig-zagged and screamed,
ecstatically terrified, surrendering
to our hurtling feathered fate.
Joe Dolce
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins