January 2012
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Elegance
All that is uncared for. Left alone in the stillness in that pure silence married to the stillness of nature. A door off its hinges, shade and shadows in an empty room. Leaks for light. Raw where the tin roof rusted through. The rustle of weeds in their different kinds of air in the mornings, year after year. A pecan tree, and the house made out of mud bricks. Accurate and unexpected beauty,...
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“I try to conjure, to raise my own spirits, from wherever they are. I need to...”
– Margaret Atwood | The Handmaid’s Tale
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Action and Non-Action
The non-action of the wise man is not inaction. It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything. The sage is quiet because he is not moved, Not because he wills to be quiet. Still water is like glass. You can look in it and see the bristles on your chin. It is a perfect level; A carpenter could use it. If water is so clear, so level, How much more the spirit of man? The heart of the wise...
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“Truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few...”
– Margaret Atwood | The Handmaid’s Tale
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Amoretti III: The Sovereign Beauty
The sovereign beauty which I do admire, Witness the world how worthy to be praised: The light whereof hath kindled heavenly fire In my frail spirit, by her from baseness raised; That being now with her huge brightness dazed, Base thing I can no more endure to view; But looking still on her, I stand amazed At wondrous sight of so celestial hue. So when my tongue would speak her praises due, It...
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“Night falls. Or has fallen. Why is it that night falls, instead of rising, like...”
– Margaret Atwood | The Handmaid’s Tale
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Platonic Love
We dine at Adorno and return to my Beauvoir. She compliments me on my Bachelard pad. I pop in a Santayana CD and Saussure back to the couch. On my way, I pull out two fine Kristeva wine glasses. I pour some Merleau-Ponty and return the Aristotle to Descartes. After pausing an Unamuno, I wrap my arm around her Hegel. Her hair smells of wild Lukacs and Labriola. Our small talk expands to include...
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“As all historians know, the past is a great darkness, and filled with echoes.”
– Margaret Atwood | The Handmaid’s Tale
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The night is darkening round me
The night is darkening round me, The wild winds coldly blow; But a tyrant spell has bound me, And I cannot, cannot go. The giant trees are bending Their bare boughs weighed with snow; The storm is fast descending, And yet I cannot go. Clouds beyond clouds above me, Wastes beyond wastes below; But nothing drear can move me; I will not, cannot go.
Emily Brontë
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“What I need is perspective. The illusion of depth, created by a frame, the...”
– Margaret Atwood | The Handmaid’s Tale
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Found Letter
What makes for a happier life, Josh, comes to this: Gifts freely given, that you never earned; Open affection with your wife and kids; Clear pipes in winter, in summer screens that fit; Few days in court, with little consequence; A quiet mind, a strong body, short hours In the office; close friends who speak the truth; Good food, cooked simply; a memory that’s rich Enough...
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“Falling in love, we said; I fell for him. We were falling women. We believed in...”
– Margaret Atwood | The Handmaid’s Tale