A great modern poet has died and if you do not know her work and the possibilities of language to reach the deepest depth then here is an obituary from the Boston Globe that will point you to Lucie Brock-Broido's work:
The dwarf was no taller than an ordinary desk, but this was
no ordinary dwarf. First, there is only one arm. Second,
wearing sunglasses and moving gingerly suggests at least
partial blindness.
"May I know your name," I asked.
"Si."
"Oh, you are a Spanish dwarf then."
"No. That is my name."
"That is unusual. What's your last name?"
"Si. My name is Si Si. I have no middle name."
"I see."
"I don't."
"Do you always appear out of the blue like this?"
"Of course. Otherwise, everyone would avoid me."
"Well then, what's the purpose of your visit?"
“To deliver a message from The Committee.”
“The Committee? I don’t know what you are referring to.”
“No matter.”
“What’s the message?”
“Dwarfs are dedicated to seeing tasks through to completion.”
“That’s it?”
“It’s enough.”
The Esterbrook Pen Company was founded in 1858. It was the sole pen manufacturer in the United States. It began with the sale of nibs (steel pen points one dipped in ink). With the development of the true “fountain” pen (ink carried in the barrel housing that flowed through the pen point), the company reached its zenith in producing 600,000 pens a day. In 1967, the company added the Venus Pencil line. The company went bankrupt in 1971, as fountain pens finally gave way to ballpoint pens. Surprisingly, Esterbrook was resurrected in 2014, and is enjoying a comeback of the original pen design.
Below is a picture of my Esterbrook fountain pen which I received from my parents as a graduation gift from high school in 1956. It is sitting atop my “new” Olympia 256 portable typewriter, which is a 1956 model, exactly like the one I also received at the same time as my Esterbrook, but which I had let go when electrics came along. So, they are together once again. I have written with my Esterbrook now for nearly 62 pears! I write with it every day. I still marvel at the phenomenon of thoughts becoming words on the page through the hand and this “instrument of ink.” There is something in this experience that is different than computer keyboards producing thoughts on the screen. It has something to do with intimacy.
Lockhart writes in his Foreword:
"It may be too much to expect older practitioners to open themselves to change. Like the old church fathers, they will not look through the Galilean telescope that story-mind makes possible. Most everything animates against it. But for the newer and younger practitioner, those not yet straight-jacketed in the certainties of dogma, those still open to risk, these stories of the art of healing may catch hold of the mind and heart, and open up possibilities for creating new and unexpected modes of working in the future."
One of the most important factors operating within the parasitic dynamic controlling most everything, can be characterized as money trumps lives. This factor is operating at all levels, from the highest government offices to the lowest street machinations, and not just in the United States, but throughout the world. This, of course, has been true throughout history, but what we are seeing now is an exponential spread and speedup of this process that has now become more and more visible, blatant, and viral.
I see little on the horizon that will lead to enantiodromiac change except through catastrophic collapse: economic, political, social, climate, pandemic, and the unknown and unimagined.
Keep in mind and use “money trumps lives” as a filter for seeing clearly into what is happening in the world today, at all levels, in all issues.
In paraphrasing Rebecca Solnit's important book, Paradise Built in Hell (2009), Monica Byrne writes, "we have it all backwards: the society we currently live in is the catastrophe, and going through a natural disaster gives us the opportunity to wake up from the spell. Natural disasters will breed opportunities not yet imagined. The fictive impulse of possible futures is why artists will become the natural leaders. Byrne and Solnit are making important observations and well worth your attention.
Materialism has long held sway in science and technology, but new developments are proceeding rapidly in what may be described as the "replacement" of materialism with something quite different. The implications for the psyche are profound and I'll elaborate on this theme in a subsequent blog post. For now, Philip Goff's review of the situation and new developments will serve as a background.
Here is the link: https://aeon.co/essays/cosmopsychism-explains-why-the-universe-is-fine-tuned-for-life
In 1882, Lou Andreas Salomé, Frederick Nietzsche, and Paul Rée posed for a photograph (at Nietzsche’s suggestion) to commemorate their decision to live together in a sexless, ménage à trois intellectual community. The famous photograph shows the two men harnessed to a cart with Lou holding a branch in the fashion of a whip. William Bayer has used this photo as a basis to author a dark psychoanalytic thriller, centering on the lives of Salomé, Nietzsche, Freud, and Hitler, as the key to solving the mysterious death of a modern-day Oakland, California dominatrix, through the efforts of Tess, a brilliant performance artist. An unusual assortment of characters to manage, but Bayer pulls it off in grand style.
These encounters with "street people" continue to be so enriching.
Such a contrast with the spectacle dynamics of our current atmosphere.
More on "spectacle" and what it points to, soon.
The Cane
Sunday, February 5, 2017
11:43 AM
His cane was not a proper cane
just a stick—well a branch to be
exact, should exactness be
required in such matters.
I learned his name was "Z"
because he was always last
to be chosen or to hear the news.
Last and lost, he repeated, smiling.
What are those notches?
Days when something good happens.
And the bad days?
Man, nothing big enough for that.
Could I try out your memory cane?
No one ever interested before
Feels good, nice heft
I think I'll make me one.
Now that's a good thing
Worth two notches I'd say
Good luck in finding yours
Mr. Z, you are first in my book!