UNCERTAIN OUTLOOK: In the English town of Hastings, like many other places in Britain, residents have mixed views on whether to remain in the European Union or not. Above, some people on the Hastings pier look towards the French coast, which is closer to the town than London, while others walk away.: photo by REUTERS/Luke McGregor/Reuters, 20 May 2016
It is not enough to cover the rock with leaves. We must be cured of it by a cure of the ground Or a cure of ourselves, that is equal to a cure
Of the ground, a cure beyond forgetfulness. And yet the leaves, if they broke into bud, If they broke into bloom, if they bore fruit,
And if we ate the incipient colorings Of their fresh culls might be a cure of the ground. The fiction of the leaves is the icon
Of the poem, the figuration of blessedness, And the icon is the man. The pearled chaplet of spring, The magnum wreath of summer, time's autumn snood,
Its copy of the sun, these cover the rock. These leaves are the poem, the icon and the man. These are a cure of the ground and of ourselves,
In the predicate that there is nothing else. They bud and bloom and bear their fruit without change. They are more than leaves that cover the barren rock.
They bud the whitest eye, the pallidest sprout, New senses in the engenderings of sense, The desire to be at the end of distances,
The body quickened and the mind in root. They bloom as a man loves, as he lives in love. They bear their fruit so that the year is known,
As if its understanding was brown skin, The honey in its pulp, the final found, The plenty of the year and of the world.
In this plenty, the poem makes meanings of the rock, Of such mixed motion and such imagery That its barrenness becomes a thousand things
And so exists no more. This is the cure Of leaves and of the ground and of ourselves. His words are both the icon and the man. Wallace Stevens (1879-1955): The Poem as Icon, 1950, from The Rock (1954)
A relative of the victims of the EgyptAir flight 804 wipes her tears as she is comforted by unidentified people at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside of Paris. Egyptian aviation officials say an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board has crashed.: photo by Michel Euler / AP, 19 May 2016
A relative of the victims of the EgyptAir flight 804 is escorted at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Egyptian military aircraft and navy ships were taking part in a search operation off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast to locate the debris of the plane.: photo by Michel Euler / AP, 19 May 2016
An Egyptian woman, who said her brother is among the passengers, grieves as she leaves the Egyptair in-flight service building where relatives are being held at Cairo International Airport. Officials say the search is now under way for the debris.: photo by Amr Nabil / AP, 19 May 2016
A student has her hands taped before training in a Mixed Martial Arts class at the UFC Gym in La Mirada, California: photo by Mark Ralston / AFP, 30 April 2016
South African veterinarians apply bandages and stitches to a poached de-horned rhinoceros that was left to die by poachers on a ranch in Bela Bela, some 150 kilometers north of Johannesburg: photo by Mujahid Safodien / AFP, 20 May 2016
A man passes closed shops at Hastings in southeast England: photo by Luke MacGregor/Reuters, 20 May 2016
A man passes closed shops at Hastings in southeast England: photo by Luke MacGregor/Reuters, 20 May 2016
Dead sardines blanket Tolten Beach in Temuco, Chile. The government has declared an emergency zone along Chile's southern coast as it deals with the algae bloom known as red tide, which kills fish with a toxin that paralyzes the central nervous system. Small-scale fishermen are demanding compensation.: photo by Felix Marquez / AP, 15 May 2016
Members of volunteer’s battalion ‘Azov’ and their supporters from various right-wing movements burn smoke flares during a march in downtown Kiev, Ukraine. Activists demanded banning any elections on territory controlled by pro-Russian rebels until full observance of the Minsk agreements and protested against a draft law to give special status to the eastern regions locked in a conflict between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists.: photo by Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA, 20 May 2016
Volunteers of the Azov Civil Corps light flares during rally at the Ukrainian Parliament against holding local elections in the occupied eastern territories of Ukraine. As part of an internationally brokered peace agreement, Ukraine must hold local elections in two eastern regions controlled by Russian-backed rebels, but there are major concerns about ensuring the vote takes place in a secure and safe atmosphere: photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP, 20 May 2016
Volunteers of the Azov Civil Corps light flares during rally at the Ukrainian Parliament against holding local elections in the occupied eastern territories of Ukraine. As part of an internationally brokered peace agreement, Ukraine must hold local elections in two eastern regions controlled by Russian-backed rebels, but there are major concerns about ensuring the vote takes place in a secure and safe atmosphere: photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP, 20 May 2016
Finnish driver Jari Matti Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila, also from Finland, steer their Volkswagen Polo R WRC near Caminha, during the second stage of the Portuguese WCR rally: photo by Francisco Leong / AFP, 20 May 2016
Rescue workers inspect a sports centre after its roof collapsed at the City University in Hong Kong. The roof collapsed on May 20, injuring three people and sparking panic among eyewitnesses who said it sounded like an explosion.: photo by Dale De La Rey / AFP, 20 May 2016
South Korean policemen take part in an anti-terror and security drill at a mall in Seoul, South Korea: photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters, 20 March 2016
South Korean policemen take part in an anti-terror and security drill at a mall in Seoul, South Korea: photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters, 20 March 2016
South Korean rescue team members wearing chemical protective suits walk past a monster character during an anti-terror drill as part of a disaster management exercise at the COEX shopping and exhibition centre in Seoul. South Korea is holding its 2016 Safe Korea anti-disaster exercise this week against terrorist threats and natural disasters.: photo by Jung Yeon-Je / AFP, 20 May 2016
Relatives and friends of Salah Abu Laban, Sahar Qouidar, Ghassan Abu Laban and Reem al-Sebaei, all victims of EgyptAir flight 804, grieve following prayers for the dead, at al Thawrah Mosque in Cairo, Egypt. The plane crashed after disappearing from radar early Thursday morning while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo.: photo by Amr Nabil / AP, 20 May 2016
Cuban actress Ana De Armas sits on the lap of Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez among photographers during a photo-call for the film Hands of Stone at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France: photo by Loic Venance / AFP, 16 May 2016
A Sri Lankan man uses an inflatable tube to move through a flood-affected area in Wellampitiya, outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Hundreds of boats plied deep floodwaters that have inundated thousands of homes in the Sri Lankan capital, delivering aid and rescuing the elderly and sick from rooftops as forecasters warned of more heavy rain.: photo by Eranga Jayawardena / AP, 20 May 2016
The scene after a massive landslide in Kegalle District, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Massive landslides triggered by torrential rains crashed down onto three villages in the central hills of Sri Lanka, and more than 200 families were missing Wednesday and feared to be buried under the mud and debris, the Sri Lankan Red Cross said.: photo by Eranga Jayawardena / AP, 18 May 2016
Kenyan policemen beat a protester during clashes in Nairobi, Kenya. Opposition protesters were calling for election officials to step down before upcoming votes.: photo by Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
A postman wears a mask during an awards ceremony for assisting police in drug-deal detection, in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China: photo by Reuters, 18 May 2016
A toddler tied to a rock in Ahmedabad, India. Barrier tape is tied around 15-month-old Shivani's ankle to prevent her from running away, while her mother Sarta Kalara works at a construction site nearby. Kalara says she has no option but to tether her daughter Shivani to a stone despite her crying, while she and her husband work for 250 rupees (USD $3.80) each per shift, digging holes for electricity cables in the city of Ahmedabad. There are about 40 million construction workers in India, at least one in five of them women, and the majority are poor migrants who shift from site to site, building infrastructure for India's booming cities. Across the country it is not uncommon to see young children rolling in the sand and mud as their parents carry bricks, or dig for new roads or luxury houses.: photo by Amit Dave / Reuters, 19 April 2016
Children cool themselves during a hot summer day in Jammu, India. The prolonged heat wave this year has already killed hundreds and destroyed crops in more than 13 states, impacting hundreds of millions of Indians.: photo by Channi Anand / AP, 20 May 2016
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, Barbados’ Ramos Gittens and Lesotho’s Mosito Lehata compete in the men’s 100m race at the IAAF Ostrava Golden Spike athletics meeting, Ostrava, Czech Republic: photo by David W Cerny/Reuters, 20 May 2016
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, Barbados’ Ramos Gittens and Lesotho’s Mosito Lehata compete in the men’s 100m race at the IAAF Ostrava Golden Spike athletics meeting, Ostrava, Czech Republic: photo by David W Cerny/Reuters, 20 May 2016
Opposition supporters affected by tear gas try to leave on a motorcycle. The supporters clashed with riot policemen during a rally demanding a referendum to remove Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela.: photo by Marco Bello / Reuters, 18 May 2016
A boy illuminates his home with candlelight during a 24-hour blackout, in the El Calvario neighborhood of El Hatillo, just outside of Caracas, Venezuela: photo by Fernando Llano / AP, 20 May 2016
Airport security staff stand near the EgyptAir counter at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to say whether a technical problem or a terror attack caused the plane to crash.: photo by Raphael Satter/AP, 19 May 2016
Devotees pull the chariot of Rato Machhindranath during the chariot festival in Lalitpur, Nepal. Rato Machhindranath is known as the god of rain, and both Hindus and Buddhists worship Machhindranath for good rain to prevent drought during the rice harvest season.: photo by Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters, 17 May 2016
