tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020960402708303830.post1202774183238163007..comments2024-03-28T14:53:38.827-04:00Comments on BLCKDGRD: But the Firetrucks Had Their Hands FullUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020960402708303830.post-86125323495804442372019-01-02T15:02:37.954-05:002019-01-02T15:02:37.954-05:000)with regard to heaven and hell, as a teenager i ...0)with regard to heaven and hell, as a teenager i thought dante's divine comedy could be harmonized with the concept of reincarnation if one saw this world in which we live in [to the extent we do live in it - 'people don't die or live, people just float' - and also 'THIS is the future - you got to LIVE it or live WITH IT'] as purgatory<br /><br />0.2)i was intruigued to read one buddhist teacher's perspective on recollections of past lives - yes, he supposes, people do sometimes recall past lives, maybe even recall them instead of just imagining them [reading the akashic record, one might say] - but these are not <b>their</b> past lives, as there is no "self" that reincarnates - it's <b>a</b> past life, not <b>your</b> past life <br /><br /><br />1)with regard to poems by james tate, here's one i read to missus charley yesterday - <br /><br /><b>The Memories of Fish</b><br /><br />Stanley took a day off from the office<br />and spent the whole day talking to fish in<br />his aquarium. To the little catfish scuttling<br />along the bottom he said, “Vacuum that scum,<br />boy. Suck it up. That’s your job.” The skinny<br />pencil fish swam by and he said, “Scribble,<br />scribble, scribble. Write me a novel, needle-<br />nose.” The angel executed a particularly<br />masterful left turn and Stanley said, “You’re<br />no angel, but you sure can drive.” Then he broke<br />for lunch and made himself a tuna fish sandwich,<br />the irony of which did not escape him. Oh no,<br />he wallowed in it, savoring every bite. Then<br />he returned to his chair in front of the aquarium.<br />A swarm of tiny neons amused him. “What do you<br />think this is, Times Square!” he shouted. And<br />so it went long into the night. The next morning<br />Stanley was horribly embarrassed by his behavior<br />and he apologized to the fish several times,<br />but they never really forgave him. He had mocked<br />their very fishiness, and for this there can be<br />no forgiveness.<br /><br />– from <i>Return to the City of White Donkeys</i> by James Tate, published by Ecco Press, 2005.<br /><br />1.5)joshua cooper writes of this poem<br /><br /><i><br />it demonstrates a wonderful blend of tragedy and comedy so often evident in his poems. I also enjoy the poem’s enjambment and hidden technical aspects, such as its use of sonic elements (alliteration, assonance, internal rhyme, etc.). They’re subtle; they don’t jolt you out of the poem, yet they’re still doing a great deal of work to pace the poem and its reader.<br /><br /></i><br /><br />1.6)i looked up <i>enjambment</i><br /><br /><br />(in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza<br /><br />1.7 this morning as i watched the talking heads discuss mitt romney's op-ed about trump's character, i heard more than one person suppose that mitt is now getting even for the humiliation he was put through as he attempted to become trump's secretary of state - like stanley's fish, he has not forgivenmistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.com