Monday, January 13, 2020

It Kissed Us Soft to Cut Our Throats

Now in our rotation even though I saw or heard no ghosts (though crossing Ten Mile Creek ford on Old Baltimore (where we never parked to party) I heard Park Mrebilic scream fuck me when his car got stuck in ice a February night in 1978)









NOT TO LIVE

John Berryman

It kissed us, soft, to cut our throats, this coast,
like a malice of the lazy King. I hunt,
& hunt! but find here what to kill?—nothing is blunt,
but phantoming uneases I find. Ghost
on ghost precedes of all most scared us, most
we fled. Howls fail upon this secret, far air: grunt,
shaming for food; you must. I love the King
& it was not I who strangled at the toast
but a flux of a free & dying adjutant:
God be with him. He & God be with us all,
for we are not to live, I cannot wring,
like laundry, blue my soul—indecisive thing . .
From undergrowth & over odd birds call
and who would starv'd so survive? God save the King.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the flute trio. Do three notes one half step apart make a chord? I can't decide but it's an interesting piece of music, breaks a lot of rules. I like that.

    Hating on Bernie might be a good thing. It gives him more air time on tv. this is also what helped elect Trump. But who knows. What I wonder about and cannot forget is the way Bernie seemed to act like a sheep dog telling his supporters to vote for the bitch after being screwed by the bitch. I still think Bernie is the best candidate but that's not saying much. I suppose the reality is that Bernie would stand even less of a chance if he ran as an independent. But I'd like him more if he did. The Democratic Party is a lost cause and time it went the way of the dinosaur. Part of the problem for me is I can no longer stand liberals. I never could stand conservatives. The fact is we're never really given a real choice and that it's a few redneck states with populations of two and one half who decide our alleged elections. Every thing is bullshit. How can I get worked up over bullshit? I can't. I can get worked up over this-

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/01/13/incendiary-extinctions-australian-fires-and-the-species-effect/

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  2. bernie will be getting a weekly donation from me for the foreseeable future, however long that is

    it would surprise me if he is the party's nominee, but as lawrence berra might have said, you never know when something surprising might happen

    with regard to the coercive power of the state, john berryman says, God save the King

    speaking of prayer, here's one that has been watered down some - to wit

    A few years ago I slightly edited “The Prayer of St. Francis” [named in his honor, but not written by him – see Wikipedia] to produce a non-sectarian, non-religious version which is, I think, suitable for people of any belief system, or none.

    My goal is to be an instrument of peace.
    Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
    Where there is injury, pardon;
    Where there is doubt, faith;
    Where there is despair, hope;
    Where there is darkness, light;
    Where there is sadness, joy.

    I seek not so much to be consoled, as to console;
    To be understood, as to understand;
    To be loved, as to love.

    For it is in giving that we receive.
    It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
    And it is in letting go of a smaller self that we are able to recognize our wider identity.

    I wish to point out, about this text:

    It recognizes that our internal states--our thoughts and feelings--are important.

    It also recognizes that they are changeable.

    It points out that people are not just things that are influenced--we are also able to influence others--and that our intentions are an important part of this process.

    And it focuses on compassion--compassion for our fellow sufferers, and also--by implication--compassion for ourselves.




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  3. Nonsense Notes: The Owl, the Pussycat; the mince and quince; and then the Runcible Spoon.

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