Sunday, November 17, 2013
voice recognition found poem
Hey John
certain that it 10 minutes to spare
and all you out.
Carla Knight mater cells
awful awful may or window here
in the spotted risking are liars
anyway we can group okay
speak at the prep school
absolutely have it
over the
-- thank you might be doing some here --
this week it's X10 no lock so hopefully you phone some
-- even more funded too --
hey it's I don't know just talk to you
-- later --
I have more time office
next week or two so.
Zeros wonder
somewhere five.
- kurt f/ ( a friend )
Monday, September 30, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
au naturel
it is claimed that natural law can be compromised...
while it is true that aristotle had only his senses
with which to acknowledge the presence and actions of nature
his thoughts cannot be easily disregarded
"modern" man tends to look at nature through
a synthetic series of designed scientific lenses and techniques
with the presumption that we know so very much now///
but do we?
edward osborne wilson states that we only know about 10% of
all the existing species on the planet
certainly we know more about insect life than aristotle ever did
aristotelean realism states quite simply
in refering to laws governing the observable world
that each thing is determined by its essence
that it becomes what it is and it is what it becomes
and this being and becoming are for all practical purposes eternal
and things are what they are by their given beingness of what they are
they all the things can be nothing other than what they are
and what they are determines the way they will propogate
or shall we say continue to be
and for all practical purposes for all we know that is the way they were designed
( i doubt aristotle ever used the word 'design'
i simply think it accounts quite practically for what it presumes to mean )
other phenomena
not just flowers
a rose is a rose is a rose i suppose
and a bee is a bee
and a tree is a tree
and the succeding generations of trees will be very much
like the trees from which the seed was assumed
and trout as well
and loons
yes loons have always been loons as far as we know
and they have danced through the eons in complete loonacy
the seasons indicate a rhythm and from year to year they rhyme
the basic things which everyone agrees are more or less standard in the world
the clouds etc. will always be the clouds etc.
the magnetic polar determinations of the swirling of smoke and water
the tides the waves of the sea
all sentient animated beings participate in the propogation of their species
to which each animate thing belongs and this tends to reproduce the species in
consistent patterns of ongoing similarity,,,,given the species this could be either directly or indirectly...given the species it can be no other way
man has learned to tamper with this
there is a whole industry of artifical insemination
a whole industry of legally protected murder
human beings propogate in much the same way as other mammals birds insects fish
of course style and preference come into play as do social arrangements and seasons
as do environmental factors
and the management exercises of modern sex play come into play
but given the natural way of things -most humans- the vast majority of humans
enter into a very natural complimentary arrangement of nuptial life
it is only the human beings the only species on the planet
who are given the ability to exercise the will
in relation to sexual interaction...
some will argue that human intuitions regarding sex are
but
left- over programming from prehistoric animal based activity...
man is a rational animal
but often irrational
man is a ritual animal
man is a pathetic animal
man is a philosophical animal
man is a childish animal
man is an amazing animal
man is a pleasure hungry animal
man is simply erect
it will be argued that human beings given to attraction
and the pursuit of satisfaction in the realm of sexuality
a physical attraction which involves common or same gender
which carries with it absolutely no chance of actual reproduction
do so naturally
others will argue these are learned patterns
or as i would say
failure to learn patterns
there is every indication in the natural world that
the anatomical forms inherent within the physiological makeup of each member of each species
which determine their involvement in the continuation of the specific species
are present to our observation and that these organs are given their identity
whether colloquially or scientifically and are determined by their basic functionality
ethics which presume to exist and formulate
moral imperatives which ignore the basic realities
the observable predictable patterns and forms
inherent in the observable world
are tools of injustice
any reflection upon moral obligations must at some level take into account
either explicitly or implicitly
the given presence of natural contingencies
it might be argued that homosexual ( i use this term in its purely scientific sense )
inclinations are observable in the animal kingdom
literally the term homo - sexual is a reduction of a concept that cannot exist without heterosexual determinants
animals are driven to procreate they are not driven to get comfortable with a mate
although some animals mate for life among the animals which mate for life
there is absolutely no record of homosexual relationship
animals -being extremely limited in intellectual tools
get it wrong sometimes
we can grant them that
it is no problem they get it wrong they smell something they go for it they get it wrong
they aren't trying to make a case for anything other than the possibility of getting it right
humans tend to be involved in the formation of conscious being
utilizing intellect imagination agility artistry and charm
as well as various dark tendencies
all of which combines to create a certain tension which results
for most people in some comprehension of right and wrong
granted there are exceptions... but very few
technology a legal system designed to accomodate the freedom of the individual
various reductionist sophistries which serve to orient the mind to mere self-serving ends
various patterns of pleasure management massive efforts to co-ordinate the various
skills and tendencies of 7 billion people a growing scientific self-confidence in relationship to the perceived control of nature the human ability to destroy life as we know it the human ability to tamper with human life in its most fragile state all this suggests to some people that we can manage the freedom of same gender relationships which go into constituting something akin to marriage
why would ethics based on natural law contradict that?
this is a vey good question
if we posit with thomas aquinas that the primary principle of natural laws is that they cannot be compromised by man we are then presented with a moral challenge of a binding nature
(i suppose we could imagine controlling a volcano by dropping a hydrogen bomb into the mouth of a volcano but then of course certain issues pointing to wisdom immediately arise)
it may be said that civilization as we know it develops from this awareness that certain things in nature bind us...later that was understood as being bound to god
a moral judgement based on natural law begins with very basic elements
say in sexual moral judgement
there is the immediate awareness now available by photography inside the womb of detecting
the gender of a fetus..this moment used to be a liturgical moment associated with every birth the announcement of gender...perhaps sometimes there would be an expresson of uncertainty
nevertheless it is natural law which posits the initial observable indication of gender
the reproductive organs are situated in close proximity to the functioning of waste removal from the body...this is natural law
it is important to distinguish one function from the other
that distinguishing is a moment of acknowledging natural law
once a distinction has been made then there comes a learned principle
and humans go through a learning period that is quite different than the other animals
most animals are learning the cycle of reproduction within a year of their existence
for humans it takes quite a few years perhaps between 12 and 30 ( we even must realize that for some this lesson is never fully learned )
nonetheless
the learning takes place that there is a relationship an essential relationship
between the reproductive organs and certain social possibilities with other human beings
it is also true that the principle of pleasure comes into play
and pleasure is her own teacher quite often
yet moral grounding which offers human beings the certainty of
basic human good and the possibility of nurturing the continuation of
ones family ones human family is then rooted in the primary awareness
of the relationship between the natural exsitence of reproductive organs
like
the
vagina and the penis and the satisfaction of this most basic intuition
can it go wrong
of couse
can learning be deficient
of course
will pleasure exert her own methods
to be sure
yet it would be a sad comment on humanity were the whole of civilization
given an endorsement to a physical practice which so egregiously defies
the basic principle of natural law as it manifests itself in the human body
it will be good for everyone to read
THE THEOLOGY OF THE BODY
by POPE JOHN PAUL II
i will conclude with an analogy
fire is basic to human nature
we don't know when this happened
very early in the developement of the human intelligence
perhaps more than a million years ago humans knew fire
it was a learning curve
they -our ancestors
had to learn to capture fire
to begin fire
to sustain fire
to use fire in constructive ways which facilitated survival
and they also realized quite certainly the destructive possibilities of fire
and the injurious possibilities of fire
given this it follows that at some point a child
is introduced to fire
a child might learn painfully that fire burns
a child will look in wonder and feel the warmth of fire
a child will observe the use of fire in preparing food
a child might then begin to manifest pyromaniacal tendencies
quite normal really the desire to use fire and perhaps create spectacles
to apprehend the power therein
( i'm reminded of a recent 4th of july when a nephew went absolutely berzerk around fireworks )
upon observing this tendency in a child a parent must exert both wisdom
and prudence and discipline
humans are the only creatures who can bring the will to bear
upon appetites and attractions
to will the good is not to provide a context for pleasure and satisfaction only
but to insist that any context for sexual life sustains the common good over and above the individual good for good must carry with it the universal agreement inherent in natural law
while it is true that aristotle had only his senses
with which to acknowledge the presence and actions of nature
his thoughts cannot be easily disregarded
"modern" man tends to look at nature through
a synthetic series of designed scientific lenses and techniques
with the presumption that we know so very much now///
but do we?
edward osborne wilson states that we only know about 10% of
all the existing species on the planet
certainly we know more about insect life than aristotle ever did
aristotelean realism states quite simply
in refering to laws governing the observable world
that each thing is determined by its essence
that it becomes what it is and it is what it becomes
and this being and becoming are for all practical purposes eternal
and things are what they are by their given beingness of what they are
they all the things can be nothing other than what they are
and what they are determines the way they will propogate
or shall we say continue to be
and for all practical purposes for all we know that is the way they were designed
( i doubt aristotle ever used the word 'design'
i simply think it accounts quite practically for what it presumes to mean )
other phenomena
not just flowers
a rose is a rose is a rose i suppose
and a bee is a bee
and a tree is a tree
and the succeding generations of trees will be very much
like the trees from which the seed was assumed
and trout as well
and loons
yes loons have always been loons as far as we know
and they have danced through the eons in complete loonacy
the seasons indicate a rhythm and from year to year they rhyme
the basic things which everyone agrees are more or less standard in the world
the clouds etc. will always be the clouds etc.
the magnetic polar determinations of the swirling of smoke and water
the tides the waves of the sea
all sentient animated beings participate in the propogation of their species
to which each animate thing belongs and this tends to reproduce the species in
consistent patterns of ongoing similarity,,,,given the species this could be either directly or indirectly...given the species it can be no other way
man has learned to tamper with this
there is a whole industry of artifical insemination
a whole industry of legally protected murder
human beings propogate in much the same way as other mammals birds insects fish
of course style and preference come into play as do social arrangements and seasons
as do environmental factors
and the management exercises of modern sex play come into play
but given the natural way of things -most humans- the vast majority of humans
enter into a very natural complimentary arrangement of nuptial life
it is only the human beings the only species on the planet
who are given the ability to exercise the will
in relation to sexual interaction...
some will argue that human intuitions regarding sex are
but
left- over programming from prehistoric animal based activity...
man is a rational animal
but often irrational
man is a ritual animal
man is a pathetic animal
man is a philosophical animal
man is a childish animal
man is an amazing animal
man is a pleasure hungry animal
man is simply erect
it will be argued that human beings given to attraction
and the pursuit of satisfaction in the realm of sexuality
a physical attraction which involves common or same gender
which carries with it absolutely no chance of actual reproduction
do so naturally
others will argue these are learned patterns
or as i would say
failure to learn patterns
there is every indication in the natural world that
the anatomical forms inherent within the physiological makeup of each member of each species
which determine their involvement in the continuation of the specific species
are present to our observation and that these organs are given their identity
whether colloquially or scientifically and are determined by their basic functionality
ethics which presume to exist and formulate
moral imperatives which ignore the basic realities
the observable predictable patterns and forms
inherent in the observable world
are tools of injustice
any reflection upon moral obligations must at some level take into account
either explicitly or implicitly
the given presence of natural contingencies
it might be argued that homosexual ( i use this term in its purely scientific sense )
inclinations are observable in the animal kingdom
literally the term homo - sexual is a reduction of a concept that cannot exist without heterosexual determinants
animals are driven to procreate they are not driven to get comfortable with a mate
although some animals mate for life among the animals which mate for life
there is absolutely no record of homosexual relationship
animals -being extremely limited in intellectual tools
get it wrong sometimes
we can grant them that
it is no problem they get it wrong they smell something they go for it they get it wrong
they aren't trying to make a case for anything other than the possibility of getting it right
humans tend to be involved in the formation of conscious being
utilizing intellect imagination agility artistry and charm
as well as various dark tendencies
all of which combines to create a certain tension which results
for most people in some comprehension of right and wrong
granted there are exceptions... but very few
technology a legal system designed to accomodate the freedom of the individual
various reductionist sophistries which serve to orient the mind to mere self-serving ends
various patterns of pleasure management massive efforts to co-ordinate the various
skills and tendencies of 7 billion people a growing scientific self-confidence in relationship to the perceived control of nature the human ability to destroy life as we know it the human ability to tamper with human life in its most fragile state all this suggests to some people that we can manage the freedom of same gender relationships which go into constituting something akin to marriage
why would ethics based on natural law contradict that?
this is a vey good question
if we posit with thomas aquinas that the primary principle of natural laws is that they cannot be compromised by man we are then presented with a moral challenge of a binding nature
(i suppose we could imagine controlling a volcano by dropping a hydrogen bomb into the mouth of a volcano but then of course certain issues pointing to wisdom immediately arise)
it may be said that civilization as we know it develops from this awareness that certain things in nature bind us...later that was understood as being bound to god
a moral judgement based on natural law begins with very basic elements
say in sexual moral judgement
there is the immediate awareness now available by photography inside the womb of detecting
the gender of a fetus..this moment used to be a liturgical moment associated with every birth the announcement of gender...perhaps sometimes there would be an expresson of uncertainty
nevertheless it is natural law which posits the initial observable indication of gender
the reproductive organs are situated in close proximity to the functioning of waste removal from the body...this is natural law
it is important to distinguish one function from the other
that distinguishing is a moment of acknowledging natural law
once a distinction has been made then there comes a learned principle
and humans go through a learning period that is quite different than the other animals
most animals are learning the cycle of reproduction within a year of their existence
for humans it takes quite a few years perhaps between 12 and 30 ( we even must realize that for some this lesson is never fully learned )
nonetheless
the learning takes place that there is a relationship an essential relationship
between the reproductive organs and certain social possibilities with other human beings
it is also true that the principle of pleasure comes into play
and pleasure is her own teacher quite often
yet moral grounding which offers human beings the certainty of
basic human good and the possibility of nurturing the continuation of
ones family ones human family is then rooted in the primary awareness
of the relationship between the natural exsitence of reproductive organs
like
the
vagina and the penis and the satisfaction of this most basic intuition
can it go wrong
of couse
can learning be deficient
of course
will pleasure exert her own methods
to be sure
yet it would be a sad comment on humanity were the whole of civilization
given an endorsement to a physical practice which so egregiously defies
the basic principle of natural law as it manifests itself in the human body
it will be good for everyone to read
THE THEOLOGY OF THE BODY
by POPE JOHN PAUL II
i will conclude with an analogy
fire is basic to human nature
we don't know when this happened
very early in the developement of the human intelligence
perhaps more than a million years ago humans knew fire
it was a learning curve
they -our ancestors
had to learn to capture fire
to begin fire
to sustain fire
to use fire in constructive ways which facilitated survival
and they also realized quite certainly the destructive possibilities of fire
and the injurious possibilities of fire
given this it follows that at some point a child
is introduced to fire
a child might learn painfully that fire burns
a child will look in wonder and feel the warmth of fire
a child will observe the use of fire in preparing food
a child might then begin to manifest pyromaniacal tendencies
quite normal really the desire to use fire and perhaps create spectacles
to apprehend the power therein
( i'm reminded of a recent 4th of july when a nephew went absolutely berzerk around fireworks )
upon observing this tendency in a child a parent must exert both wisdom
and prudence and discipline
humans are the only creatures who can bring the will to bear
upon appetites and attractions
to will the good is not to provide a context for pleasure and satisfaction only
but to insist that any context for sexual life sustains the common good over and above the individual good for good must carry with it the universal agreement inherent in natural law
Thursday, May 9, 2013
found poem from a hacker
l pray my email finds you in good health, please can u lend me 2000USD today I just arrived in Greece and I am in a fix My Bank is currently having some network problems and cannot transfer out currently, I will refund you the money in few days soon as i return back. please get back to me a s a p if you can. |
la ballade del pelligrino derelicto
here begins a long lyric sequence based upon a collection of photographs recently handed to me
i will trace the thematic content of each photo in the very order in which they reside in my possession at this moment in time
the sequence itself will be worked out on this one post
1)
i sing you sing we sing
the world around does not care
the tent offers shelter
to something less than birds
your guitar speaks to my guitar
your eyes seem to know my eyes
no one minds the fact
your hands
remain in soft black gloves
i can see the whole day
reflected in your eyeglasses
you are the melody
i try to find some harmony
2)
Ok alright "G"
your left hand looks so confident
your right hand is intentional
poised as it is over the sound hole
that we play amid dirt and barren trees
means nothing to the rest of the world
it only has meaning for me
and you
should you remember one day
our effort to share our voices
if nothing else
i am listening
i have always been listening
3)
the girl in the blanket is dreaming
of a love she once knew
i cannot help the seriousness
of finding the right sound
nor do i take lightly
the approval in your face
you seemingly unaware
of the exhiliration in my heart
4)
only a few people might be able to verify
that i reside at ease in the shadow
i serenade a woman who sits by the fire
i croon for all i'm worth
gitchiegoomie takes note
in the black backdrop of winter windows
the gas fire
as earnest as my song
light comes from many places
your designs not the least
5)
and then there's you
framed by a line of light
to the east
streaming out of your winter cap
like a bolt of lightening
standing amid snow where you appear
quite at ease in morning light
the white snow speaking to something
not even i have dared to fathom
you are wrapped lightly in blue
and grey frames your head
the sky is grey
water a darker grey
your eyes appear nearly shut
i cannot help looking at your smile
i cannot account for my attraction
to the lichen on the rocks
6)
five faces paying attention
to the same thing
the same song
five sets of hands
the fiddler her bow
poking the underbelly of heaven
the little guitar tuned to "D"
a lonesome anonymous voice
howling quietly in the void
a woman's head her face
crowned with a stained glass design
and bright lamps above
you too hold a fiddle and present it
like mary presenting her baby son
a bearded guitarist
ready to whine with a slide sound
if the melody so calls
and
a bassist
head craned with deliberate desire
making sure we all can fly
a city looms behind us in the window
nothing will ever be the same
life changes imperceptively all the time
we pass through this moment like a subatomic particle
colliding with spinning rays of light
into an infinity of sally gardens
7)
we can be so profane
and yet we gather in sacred circle
christ above us - arms outstretched
including us in his passion
you are not thinking about the four men
who surround you
they are all named john
photo pictures are always out of focus
forcing depth into two dimensions
is always a compromise of vision
your face is serious
intent on what the new proposal is
mate
abbot
master of ceremony
and one born out of time
looking on from agape's perch
the altar speaks of welcome
you too are bread and wine
8)
someone saw you attending to the light
this is the night
o felix culpa
candle light shines your face
some consolation seeps out
from under your glasses
your husband - your father -
a man with a child asleep in his arms behind you
i think you just might kiss
the light of the world
in this nymphogogical moment
your fecundity is made rich
for the work of god
9)
we have made our promises once again
promises against the lure of evil
the spectacle of false enchantment
that microphone made no excuses
your voice boomed off concrete walls
i knew right then you were really serious
though i did not show it then i must say
this time is deeper than i care to think about
i prayed hail mary
as your words marched forth
your voice confident
resigned to this moment
from which you can never turn away
chrism seals you
marks you
prepares you
for a love supreme
10)
everyone in that church was given
to involuntary smiles that night
smiling before they thought about it
"hey, i'm smiling"
you are praying
i am smiling behind my white beard
thinking
i watched the whole turn
i was present to this
in ways no one here will ever quite appreciate
the way you must
a shiny brick floor
reflects your shoes your legs
at some point i realized my role had been newly defined
i am to be a father
that's how you appointed me
welcome to the edge of the predella
where you are the graphic scene
---everyone else is in attendance
i offer you to christ's altar
11)
i sit on a couch with a bride of christ
her laundry brushing up against my shoulder
your husband wonders what i will do next
and a franciscan priest looks on amused
this was before the big hill
this was before we separated
this was before i challenged any pretense of cohesion
who knows what we sang in that moment
who cares
the walls speak in faded pink
of unrequited desires the whole world round
only the live pink flowers
in a floral pot before me
speak of certainties
we are ever in need of hospitals
of hospitaleros
12)
i admire the care each town took
to make water a delightful event
how flowers attend the sacrament
of slaking ones thirst
every fountain a gushing of god's love
shadows speak of sifting light
october days
benches mull over numerous butts
come and gone
only the girl with the camera
seems to cherish this moment
with love i've yet to fully understand
and a sign speaks of ambivalence in two directions
stone walls know the truth of the history of pedestrians
13)
blue grapes in black buckets
some golden and green grapes mixed in
grouped together before the quiet brown doors
and the rose colored panels for the door nextdoor
paving stones where many have trod
these grapes soon to be crushed
trampled under foot
made right for table sacrifice
made wine for the mystery of smiles
october is a month when wisdom has a chance in spain
14)
you amid the vineyard
leaves tending to blood red
landscape and cloudscape
embrace and kiss along the
hillside shrouded in fog
your face in a photograph is nothing
compared to my eyes beholding you
in the only real time i know
we are the pilgrims of the moist cool day
15)
el rucio
true servant of the brotherhood of laboring souls
your ears are alert to the intricacies of sound in the air
you cannot help but look a little sad
your countenance seems to say
i don't know what this hobble chain is doing around my neck
i would never run far
everyday is surreal amid the trees
i make my way along the fading grass
that is my sustenance
for you
to be
is heroic
16)
so much graffitti
so little to say
a tunnel with streams of water
taking two pilgrims to a hill
on the further side
for the life of me i cannot remember where in spain
this is
the day does not matter
the time of day does not matter
the place is important
for it speaks
of going from one place to another
yet i have no name to give this tunnel
a destiny every pilgrim agrees to
the tips of our ski poles clicked on the pavement
17)
we can speak of vineyards
we can speak of cemeteries
we can speak of spanish facades
that mark the entrance of all the chapels
all the capillas
we can speak of storks' nests with some authority
but it is the red earth that speaks of us
18)
i am alone in this world
i walked before you
knowing myself a solitary
how you brought me in
to be with you
in the midst of another sacred trust
i shall never quite know
perhaps it doesn't matter
love will find a way
or so i'm told
i can let gravity take me down paths into brushy arroyos
i can kick the stones
and marvel at the dull pain of carrying my life
on my back like a mule
i can strap a small guitar on my back
and wear my mongolian camel hair hat
i can walk as determined as any other pilgrim
what thoughts saunter there
in my westward walking in spain
19)
some days i found myself thinking
you are more beautiful than the sky in spain
you are more beautiful than the landscape
impressive as it was
more beautiful than the trees along the way
i
more than once
was lost in the contours of your face
ennobled by the gentle reminder that you are near
the sun through the clouds does everything it can
to enhance what my eyes have truly seen up close
we were fools to go on that long walk
now there's no telling where we might end up
20)
the villages all blend together into one
we walked but one day that is all
we arose at daylight
we watched the sun go down
we wove our lives amid a thousand other lives
like it was the most normal thing in the world
and lord knows it is so
the churches in spain are still wounded
from the wars in the early days of last century
nobody seems to remember why people fought
i tend to think it was about hoarding wine
the storks gossip in spring
tell stories of rare pilgrims
aerial narratives colored with dusk
21)
stone chapels are important
why bother with stone
the stones make themselves an offering
faith is upheld by the gifts of the earth
if there are no stones your faith is worthless
one stork nest is a prayer
only god can hear
blue sky
a few whisps of cloud
some trees in the distance
held in your eye
for a moment
22)
everything converges in a moment
while playing that little martin guitar
i knew i had the world by the throat
i could toss away all prudence
i could scoff at patience
i could kill with a word
but i sang
where hospitality was free
where shade was offered
and tea for the weary
it appears that i could care less if anyone listened
appears that i do things with surprising intent
without pondering the motivations
i but a beast of burden
armed with a spear with six wire strings attached
ever ready to take on the monsters
of the day of infinite banality
23)
o golden spanish poplar
only golden tree amid a forest of green
you speak beside the road of varying enthusiasms
only you take note of the wayward and the lost
only you speak of your contentment
to reside by this road
and sing the slow song of your
impending nakedness
24)
your husband and i are not friends
particularly
often i feel like a child in a strangers' house
he wondering what i'm doing reaching for a glass
without asking permission
yet we look at the same river
we contemplate time in the same way
we take equal note that the arches of this bridge
date to the early middle ages
across the way there is a jousting field
where we are different
is that i am pondering the water
in terms of a bath
i am looking earnestly for access
i've already decided we are staying here
i'm willing to fall way behind if you want to go on
i'm going in the river
before we left this town
you and i walked to the church
opposite our beds
across the bridge
we knelt there
and received a stamp
confirmed
you and i
we conceded and swam with glee you and i
i did my best to ask a flyfisherman
if we could swim would we bother him
he uttered
there is water aplenty
aqua mui mucho
and he waded further up the stream delicately
like kissing placing his little flies
in the pools beneath the wet willows
while we floated in the cold current
your smile like to drown me
i was close to being transformed
into my fish self
i could've swum for another hour
but we needed to eat too
i slept well that night
i walked alone before sleeping
down a long long lane
an ancient lane
along the river
a park where quite obviously
human leisure is taken seriously
it went on for more than mile
and my life was as quiet there
as i ever remember it being quiet before
quieter
25)
at least john douglas mcgill and i can stand
side by side and exchange cognitive tidbits
much the same way we can play guitar
to each others' tastes
most of the time
a clear blue day is darkening
and our shadows say evening
we are waiting for you
we are both waiting for you
we are alike in that as well
we will both always wait for you
a power pole to our backs
a yellow arrow pointing almost like fate
if we believed in that
there are always choices
or so i am told
at nearly every bridge i waited for you
it was the least i could do
26)
i'm playing a leonard cohen song to a plastic table
i do not care about the camera
i never have
john is clean and you are freshened up
the setting sun lightens
the rightside of your face
a canadian trekker
takes the picture
we are fenced in it seems
this albuergue a moment's destiny
27)
well of course i am going to sing love songs
to a beautiful spanish woman
this woman actually kissed me
i still wear the sunglasses i purchased
the day we climbed out of leon
passed the hobbit huvels on the hill
my old fishing cap snug on my head
who knows what's come over me at this time
who remembers the zeal in my heart
i shall assure everyone before i die
that love is worth the song
to stop singing is to express cruelty
she promised me a tour of st froilan
the umbrella is indifferent
if i'm not mistaken
our first paella was that night
and i was introduced to the massive choral phenomenon
of snoring siffling and farting
of the shared domicile
an idea for orchestration took root
our dormition the song long awaited
human ensembles of the one two orifice
mouths noses and anuses
straining for some odd harmony
all
night
long
at one point i walked out into the castillian night
and was happy enough to be alive somewhere else
somewhere where i was away from where i was used to being
as i recall
we were pretty happy the next morning
giddy as the sunrise
28)
willing to share my fruit
willing to sit in the same sun
willing to look face to face
willing to let my body
mold to the slatted bench
willing to let the tree
be sufficient shade
willing to be grateful
for the water fountain
willing now to go on
the inevitable has taken hold
maps are superfluous
a strange australian woman came to greet me
later she told the story of her miserable feet
she was driven
"god wants me to do this pilgrimage"
i could barely get beyond
"god must be amused"
only now do i notice the
prevalence of shadows in northern spain
29)
no i am not above resting my pack
on a mileage marker
no i am not afraid to be
in the middle of nowhere
no i have no anxiety about
the road ahead
no i am not impatient
no i really have nothing
better to do
than stand there
gazing at the clear blue sky
contemplating brown fields
the grey road stretches on up
over the hill
you and i will go there
up over that hill
we will
we both will it
why not
i don't recall ever being tired
except at the end of the day
and at the very end
before walking into compostela proper
i collapsed
in a sea of darkness
wondering if i could go any further
wondering if i weren't in fact
actually
very very lost
i could not have done
the long walk
without you
30)
quite likely
i'm playing the blues
because well
that's what i do
outside the first albuergue
i made a point of establishing
my preference for the sound
once again
i've been doing it
ever since listening to my father's old LPs
i have no knowledge of actually ever learning
the blues
your husband looks
like he could care less
he smiles for the camera
i'm singing to my feet
for the walk ahead
31)
i do not know
you will have to tell me
for i cannot quite remember
if this shot is just before you
twisted your back or afterward
when we were actually
about to take the first real steps
on the way
john looks ebullient
i'm quixotic at best
collegeville marked across
my chest
behind us two women
are stopped -- observing something
rash leon
is printed a la graffitti
below a window
it is the day
it is the wall
where you reclined in pain
stopping us before we started
bringing us to a literal standstill
way to go baby
it wasn't that long
we himmed and hawwed a bit
you conceded to some percoset
you did some gentle stretching
some squating you relaxed
within 20 minutes you were
up and at 'em
and we trudged
ever so timidly
through leon
maybe it took an hour i don't know
i only recall feeling very anxious
about your well being
and i was a bit conflicted
about how deeply i was feeling about this
i suppose i did not tell you then
that i will always be honored to serve you
the garbage cans attended our drama
as did the nuns across the way
when the ambulance showed up
we knew it was time to leave
let's go to leon again some day
32)
yes i am your knight errant
your epistemological nomad
sometimes short on the logic part
yes i will stand with you in the sun
in the shade in the rain in the cold
yes i will be near the park
near the shady trees
i will stand near the curb
i am warmed by the light
emanating from your face
being doused by the sun
i have no idea where we were exactly
there are days when i think
i am a player in your dream
other times it is the pain of knowing
my heart that keeps me close
if you left me
i'd take to staring down the depths of dark
your husband
taking the picture
is the prominent shadow
if this is blessing
i cannot get enough
.
Friday, April 12, 2013
draw the cursor through the text
When we begin to experience the be-ing
of others--both persons and things--
we find
ourselves becoming grateful for the gifts of life
and for the Author of
life--the Author of our own life
and the life of everyone else.
mary rosera joyce
.
mary rosera joyce
.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
ezra pound
ing
it home
into 'divine or permanent world.' Gods, etc
something of a treatise for poetic structure for all time
something to imagine in a cell
no matter what
peril lurks
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