Saturday, August 27, 2011

He Was Envious and Ashamed of His Doubt, Content that His Lacerated Memory Would Vanish with Him

United's postponed today's game and I expect I'll lose power (baddabing) sometime after six tonight, so hooting! I'll not post until Monday - not that I claim I'm capable of not posting, I hope to not post even though I can - is a hedged bet.

I found myself old-thinking: if this storm wrecks the Metroplex, it is Obama's Katrina, he could PR-propel this as effective compare-contrast, then thought, what the fuck am I doing? There are comment fields in Blegsylvania on which fellowwankers try to out-Hobbes each other to be King of Anarchists, and it angrily amuses me enough to type this sentence, and what the fuck am I doing? I hit publish before this post was finished instead of draft, and what the fuck am I doing?

So much for strangely happy. Until Monday, voluntarily hopefully untainted by unavoidabilty, song, few links, song, poem, song.














A FELICITOUS LIFE

Czeslaw Milosz

Translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Lillian Vallee

His old age fell on years of abundant harvest.
There were no earthquakes, droughts or floods.
It seemed as if the turning of the seasons gained in constancy,
Stars waxed strong and the sun increased its might.
Even in remote provinces no war was waged.
Generations grew up friendly to fellow men.
The rational nature of man was not a subject of derision.

It was bitter to say farewell to the earth so renewed.
He was envious and ashamed of his doubt,
Content that his lacerated memory would vanish with him.

Two days after his death a hurricane razed the coasts.
Smoke came from volcanoes inactive for a hundred years.
Lava sprawled over forests, vineyards, and towns.
And war began with a battle on the islands.



9 comments:

  1. At least they've postponed forsaking three points until a later date. Always look on the bright side of life.

    Though if you do get power back, or don't lose it, you'll post tomorrow. Fooling no one, bub.

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  2. Thank you for the link, BDR.

    P.S. I'm reading the Kazin, but already I feel he's omitting some crucial details that George Carlin covered well.
    ~

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  3. BDR: Love the first link.

    Thanks for pimping out my stuff.

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  4. Michael Kazin strikes me as altogether clueless.

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  5. ...like (reading more of the interview), to an astonishing and embarrassing degree.

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  6. If you have a kindle you can download the intro and first chapter. I doubt it would change your opinion, but he does thresh it out a bit more what he says in the interview.

    It's a reiteration of accepted duh. If I was satisfied with that narrative, it'd be fine, and I once was satisfied with that narrative. But that's the book's scope and the book's intended audience.

    Got electric in Bawlmer, Hon?

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  7. power's spotty in Baltimore... but we're among the fortunate ones (only block on our street with power).

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  8. also, heh, this is priceless: "on which fellowwankers try to out-Hobbes each other to be King of Anarchists"

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  9. In his defense and in testimony to his restraint, Pepco claims he's got power. Earlier, I forgot to look because I was selfishly focused on my own power outage. Now that I'm lording it over the proles with my electricity and my Internetz, I have time to gloat about which of my friends are sweating in the dark.

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