Jeremi Biziuk, "kitarumo"

Works:

Texts:

"[...]To no one's surprise, but only the boy’s,

The whispers of the demons he met got lost.

He remembered the tune they performed that night,
The melody was definitely right, however,

The words did not match.
Their whispers got twisted and corrupted.
As much as the boy tried, the sounds did not align,
Perverted by the tongue of a human in disguise.

The boy would have to find a way to make the sounds come out right.
And so he took on a piece of wood and grabbed a knife his father took.
He took it to the barn where he would work, cut the wood and shape it with
His bare hands and the blade they held.

After many nights that stretched till dawn,
When the boy’s hands had blistered and bled
Too many to count,
He was finally happy with the wood he carved.

He had given it a body, a long, thin neck,

He had put a head on top with two horns and a face,

He took the hair from their goats,

He pulled it all the way from the body through its neck

He tied it on top around its head

And stretched the hair with a wooden peg.

After the sun went its way
Below the horizon and the mountain range,
The boy took his newly carved piece
And took on a journey to his favorite Woods.

He found the spot where they last met, took his bag and let his feet rest
On the grass which moved along its usual way when the Wind would blow.

His feet were cold, but he did not mind.

The coming performance was all his mind

Could think of.

And when he began to stroke the hair
Across with a bow
They would all vibrate.
The body, the neck,
The heads with horns
And finally the hair.

And as his tunes would fill up the air, the boy would hum along,

The same words which he thought he lost

Have found their way to his makeshift tongue.

They spoke of mischief, joy and tears,

The words of demons who were searching for their kin.

Through the Woods, through the mountains, through the people and the goats,

All that was moving was concerning those

Who moved with the Wind and spoke to it softly.

Asking it questions of love and guidance.

And when the Woods were empty once more
Of the sound played by the boy,

The Wind has also

Decided to go. [...]"

Photos by: Mina Yee (2023)

Excerpt from "The Story of a Boy, the Wind and the Fiddle" (2023)