tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63338763515328957452024-03-12T19:55:54.142-04:00When I was One and Twenty...A blog mostly focused on poetry. I am not sure I understand anything else.Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.comBlogger365125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-21263654166959896822013-11-21T12:50:00.003-05:002013-11-21T14:54:29.468-05:00The Trick<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">A minor miracle,
you rise<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">from nothingness,
the ghostly gray<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">palm on
stage, like Venus did,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">stepping into
flesh from foam.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">We do not
perceive the sleeve,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">the
preparations, the pair of pearl<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">buttons fastening
the glove,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">the tall black
hat of magic. Our<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">eyes are fixed
on what’s beyond<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">already, following
a flash<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">and flutter high
above: a dove,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">like love,
or life, gone up in smoke.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-43617439645375233222013-11-01T10:13:00.001-04:002013-11-01T13:29:53.714-04:00Ice Wine<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As the light withdraws, I concentrate<span style="display: inline;"><br />on summer, other days, warm memories,<br />distilling them into clusters of grapes<br />glistening with frost, like those dark globes,<br />intentionally left unharvested,<br /><br />still clinging to the vines. I wonder if<br />it might be time to let the cold be cold,<br />and let that sweetness fill my heart also.<br />I’m no expert in hearts, but I feel<br />winter might work its magic on me, too.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-66762803740229999582013-10-31T11:54:00.002-04:002013-10-31T11:58:33.149-04:00A Haunted House<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">A skull’s an
awful place to find yourself</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">alone: it’s
dark, and damp, and cramped, a-crawl</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">with
thoughts, like insects, busy all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">The only
time light gets inside is when</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">the bone is
cracked: say, by an accident,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">or surgery,
or violent attack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">There is
this strange impression created by</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">the eyes—a world outside the cranium.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">But this is
background noise, the buzz of flies:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">a cloud of doubts
rubbing hairy hands</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">together,
looking forward to a meal</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">more
substantial than your mind. More real.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-73886627706476612062013-10-27T10:19:00.001-04:002013-10-29T17:12:50.834-04:00The Ferryman's Complaint<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Let’s look at today’s takings:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">one hundred and fifty-five</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">thousand across, out of a potential</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">six billion customers. Plus one</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">roundtrip. That’s you. A poet. Nothing, </span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">proportionally speaking. No,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">business isn’t what it used to be.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Nothing compared to what I used to earn:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">smallpox, plague, diphtheria,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">tetanus, septicemia—when</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">spears and swords were all the rage.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Homer was quite kind to me.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">His doctors never washed their hands</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">or bloody instruments. They moved</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">from gut wound to gut wound like the Fates,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">up to their elbows in intestines,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">endlessly stitching things</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">shut. A hush surrounded death</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">back then. Customs were respected.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A coin deposited beneath</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">the tongue, two coins covering the eyes,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">pennies meant something. That’s</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">how Alexander came to me, Caesar,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">countless others I could name.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I never forget a friendly face.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">These were the decencies the family</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">attempted to observe even if</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">no money could be found. For me,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">the thought always counts. I’m not greedy.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’m not unsympathetic. But</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I do have a staff to support. Liability</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">insurance. Lawyers. Cripples</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">and children under twelve pay half.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Pregnant women and infants</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ride free. They always will. But</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">at least Homer and friends made </span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">an effort. You expect charity. Look.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Don’t take my hand. Just look</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">at these hideous blisters. Look.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I worked my fingers to the bone:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Somme, Verdun, Passchendaele,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Influenza, Amritsar,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Invasion of Manchuria,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Guernica, Nanking, The Blitz,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Buchenwald, Dresden, D-Day,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Hiroshima, Korea, the killing fields</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">of Cambodia, Rwanda. AIDS. The list</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">goes on. I don’t do charity work.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’m not in business for my health,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">you know. I slipped a disk</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ferrying those mystified millions</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">across this damned river. For free.</span><br />
I did my bit at Dunkirk, too.<br />
You look surprised. Don’t be.<br />
I keep very careful accounts.<br />
A miracle is what you owe me.</div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span> </div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span> </div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-75243106795590231202013-10-22T13:46:00.000-04:002013-10-22T17:00:47.515-04:00Wild Strawberries<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">On either side
of the path leading up the hill to our cabins at camp, tuffets of moss relax beside
nervous strawberries that tremble and glisten like jelly. I am not
normally a berry fancier myself, but I will make an exception in this
case and stop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">O how they melt
in the mouth! No sugar snowflake, no pearl in acid, no metaphor on earth could do the sensation justice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">You have to try
one of these things. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">No?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">What is the
matter with you?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Allergies?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Only to cashews,
you say. And needles.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Hmm…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Oh. I see what
the problem is. Only an idiot lost on his way to a party and scanning the
horizon in a pirate eye-patch would suggest some connection between the
succulence of strawbrerries and the proximity of a privy. Honestly. You seem to have
lost your sense of depth along with your virginity today. Put down the plastic spyglass.
I will take care of your cutlass. See if my eyes—this pair of binoculars—will
help. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Well? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">The outhouse is
really on the other side of the hill—somewhere over 40—light years away, you see, past
the sunset. This is camp—the eternal present—here and now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">There aren’t
very many private epiphanies I am willing to part with. But, since it is you, and
our roles are reversed—and you have so
conveniently consented to kneel—and I am holding the cutlass to your throat—I
am happy to share.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Swallow, scum.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">See?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">Delicious.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<br />Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-29816896977788970722013-10-17T13:33:00.000-04:002013-11-05T08:45:52.883-05:00Friday Nights At The Met<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Having
had my fill of abstractions for the evening—I did not enjoy the special exhibit
of turquoise dinosaur turds—I decided to
take the escalator downstairs and spend my last few minutes among the clichés housed
in the recently renovated collection of classical bric-a-Braque, to see what I
could see.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><br></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">In
those days, I carried a black Moleskine everywhere I went and recorded
everything I saw. I clutched my pen with the white-knuckled determination of
a thief gripping the steering wheel of a Porsche: I would not leave the
world empty-handed.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">In truth, I really had no earthly idea what I was up to besides
scribbling: joyriding from place to place, face to face, world to word, wasting
time; hoping, in the course of my travels, I would unearth a reason to
exist—something, if not exactly noteworthy, or new, at least something more diverting
than doing endless donuts around Death in the vegetable aisle at the supermarket. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">And
so it transpired that I discovered myself on the ground floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City. In that vast glass-vaulted
gallery, I found a garden of broken images that—taken together and carefully
weighed—amounted to less than a worm in terms of its collective artistry, but
nevertheless remained resolutely human, even beautiful. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><br></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">For me, this was Heaven. I dipped my fingers in a purling fountain and flicked water at Poseidon. I flipped the bird at Julius Caesar. I peeped around the shattered
ass of a faceless Nike. And I whistled at what I saw. For—basking under a beam
of light bespangled with billions of starry motes that suggested this section of
the Cosmos was still, secretly, under construction—I spied the alabaster corpse of a laughing
Cupid impaled on an iron spike.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">I saw a legless young man in a wheelchair sketching that sculpture with excruciating care. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">That vision of Love changed my life.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-30381056815710539442013-10-11T16:14:00.000-04:002013-10-11T16:14:09.339-04:00Mouths<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Consumers, Hi!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We are your mouths</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We eat you out</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Of home and house!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We like your kids,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We love your wives,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But most of all,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We want your lives!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Send bits and pieces,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Pixels, pics,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Whatever you like,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We’re mouths not dicks!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We’re flexible,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Textible, and it’s true,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We all have teeth,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">All smiling at you!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So, feed us faces,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Fingers, shit,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We don’t care,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We asked for it!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For we are Just:</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The huge abyss</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">That yawns beneath</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The things you kiss!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-3245052944674077722013-10-09T15:58:00.001-04:002013-10-29T12:03:37.405-04:00The Pixies of Possibility<br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Irreverent things, small and free,<br />they normally dwell in dells, or woods,<br />where Now is a tree and Later might be<br />a house in a river, in one of its moods.<br /><br />Above us they flutter, wings buttering<br />the oleo air like Wonder Bread;<br />they fling cinders from fires, uttering<br />the magic words: Maybe, Perhaps, Instead.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They turn Comedies into Tragedies,<br />the kind of Despair that dances with Joy:<br />for hit by a bus, or a passing breeze,<br />a frustrated toddler flinging a toy—<br /><br />it’s all the same. A Possibility,<br />when photographed, will always appear<br />as a luminous smudge—like poetry.<br />Nothing threatening, nothing to fear,<br /><br />I’m sure that you have seen their lights,<br />I’m sure you’ve also heard their song,<br />looking up from a book on one of those nights<br />you heard a siren hurtling along.</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span>Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-72472756594642971562013-10-08T11:15:00.001-04:002013-10-08T13:23:46.871-04:00Indiana Jones and the Abyss: A Fragment<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Cast:<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Harrison Ford: Professor Henry (Indiana) Jones, 38,
archaeologist, adventurer, lover, our hero.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Karen Allen: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miss Marion Ravenwood, 30, Indy’s love
interest, us.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Paul Freeman: Dr. René Emile Belloq, 45, Indy’s nemesis,
a villainous Frenchie, Time.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Musclemen and Mummies: The arms of clocks
everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Marion!
Marion. Listen to me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Start
anywhere. Pick anything. Random</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">paragraphs.
Find one. Just read it. “He</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">reached
the inner chamber of the tomb.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">‘Osiris
curses he—’ He? Whom? The key</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">cartouche
was missing. A granite wound</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">grinned
grotesquely at him. Hacked away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Deliberately.
And recently. René.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The stale
aroma of a cigarette—</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gauloises—suggested
the Frenchman.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His
rival. Vandal. Yet. Amentophet</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">still lay
in his sarcophagus—still band-</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">aged
tightly; the mask the six bald priests had set</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">on
Pharaoh’s face almost four thousand</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">years ago
rested on the young king’s brow—</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">still
glittering, still golden. Nothing stolen. Now,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why?
Stubble growing through a scar</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">irritated
Indiana’s chin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
scratched it with his flashlight. On the far</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">wall there
appeared a royal procession:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Four
horses led a chariot. War.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Conquest.
Famine. Death. He was certain</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">this
predated the Apocalypse</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">of St.
John. A whistle passed his lips...”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No! Try
again. Wrong episode.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If we
weren’t busy over an abyss</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I would explain
it all. It’s hard to hold</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a lecture
swinging on a whip like this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Trust me.
Just trust me. Somewhere—down the road—</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">we will
get back to Pharaoh and Osiris.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Look,
Honey, if you wanted to know more,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">you
really should have read the script before<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">you took
the part. So, try to focus. Try.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We’re
clinging to existence by a thread.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Everybody
knows we’re going to die</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">before
we are finished. So, skip ahead,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">past
where René will ask me, “Why?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why do
you waste your life among the dead,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Professor,
excavating legends—stones—</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">to sit in
some Museum? Doctor Jones,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">exactly
what do you get out of it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An
evening in Byzantium? A tan?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Americans.
Tourists. Buffoons. You love it:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">how love
runs through your lives just like this sand</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">runs
through my fingers. Shall I prove it?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How
useful love is to a dying man?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Look. Two
identical canteens. One full </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">of water.
This one—empty—love. All<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">you have
to do—untie his mouth—is choose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Choose
one canteen and then we seal you in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you
select the water, you will lose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you
pick love, then, I will see you win.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
guarantee a postcard marked ‘Toulouse’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">conveying
your—affection—for Marion</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">will be
arriving in Nepal next week.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Choose
wisely, Indiana. Let him speak…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-34502152901175759592013-09-29T12:27:00.000-04:002013-10-07T11:56:16.358-04:00The Last Ghost<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Before he goes, he turns</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">around, surveying things<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">one final time, making<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">sure that his memories<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">will all be found neatly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">arranged by the new boy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A model Corsair and a Zero<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">square-off on a doily<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">beneath a ceramic lamp<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">his mother painted. While,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">overhead, an <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Enterprise</st1:city></st1:place>,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">his father’s handiwork,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">slowly revolves in the dark<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">bedroom. Sightless eyes,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">belonging to the stuffed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">frogs he will leaving,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">look up in silence at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">the orbiting starship,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">lost in whatever thoughts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">their cotton brains contain,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">unaware of what they are<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">to him: his family.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He taps his rocker and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">it rocks, predictably,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">keeping perfect time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Part metronome, part throne,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">it coordinates the headlights<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">careening along the wall<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">into his mirror. Those<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">lightning flashes at night<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">will not be missed. He’s glad<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">that dresser isn’t coming,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">really. He has outgrown<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">the child inside. He flips<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">one of the handles up,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">then flicks it down again,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">to hear how it collides<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">against a plate of brass,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">letting go of the past.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The noise it makes is nice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So he lifts it up again,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">so he can hear it crash<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">again, a kamikaze,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ending something grand.</span></p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-56246393664416875652013-09-29T10:15:00.001-04:002013-09-29T10:17:48.234-04:00Jonathan Swift<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Dean of odd ducks, he dipped his pen</span></div><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a funny ink, distilled from the Furies</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Holy manure: he hated man</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Bespattered with shit, shouting, "Yahoo!"</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Famished as Death, he fed the lord</div></font><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">A suckling child, the choicest meat</div></font><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Butchered on his block. The King of Beasts,</div></font><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Society, laughed and licked its chops.</div></font></span><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Harelip in hand, Irony hoped</div></font><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">He fancied her figure. Her fractured face</div></font><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Broke in two smiles. Smitten with love,</div></font></span><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He kissed her palm, "Let's kill the light<font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);">."</span></font></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></font></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></font></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></font></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></font></span></div></font></span>Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-44573972477018368962013-09-25T17:18:00.001-04:002013-09-30T12:24:42.577-04:00My Poor Fool<div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">“Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, and thou no breath at all?”</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">—King Lear</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Heaven was just the place for him to go.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He never understood this world. You know,</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We would discuss it over marmalade—</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Those violent forces—how the world was made.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He would take soldiers—strips of buttered toast—</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And dip them in his egg, completely lost.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Most considered him a child—a half-wit.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Like any parent, my poor heart was split.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">His gags were creaky as an outhouse door,</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And yet I loved him—loved him to the core.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He turned the girls to jelly. In his eye,</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There twinkled something wild in black tie</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Which frightened my officials, children, and dogs.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He painted funny faces in the fogs</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Which rolled in like thunder from the sea</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Those nights we kept each other company.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He tested my love constantly. He’d twist</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My heart right into knots—without a sweat—</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One drop of effort. For some reason I</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Don’t fully comprehend, he teased me, “Why</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Are you so melancholy, Lord—so blue?”</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He pinged me with a pebble from his shoe,</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">His face a mask of innocence. Of course,</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I think he knew he would wind up a corpse.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I hanged the lad in public to remind</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The peoples of the Earth that God had died.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They stared at him like vegetables. The few</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Who cried for Mercy I hanged twice. Like you,</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I wished his last remarks had shown more flair,</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A little bravery. Jerked in the air,</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He gargled, “Jesus,” and choked. His final joke,</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One word, dissovling in the sky, like smoke.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><font style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </font></div>Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-9147092137439663962013-09-20T11:31:00.001-04:002013-09-24T13:14:10.964-04:00The Longest Journey<div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Today, while practicing for the national implementation of the <em>Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act</em> , I tried to have a prescription filled in New York City.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I went to my local community health center, as you do for these things nowadays, when you desire to obtain a controlled substance legally. My local community couldn’t find my prescription in the local community safe, although they had a record that the prescription had been called-in and signed by a certain responsible individual (my doctor) the day before.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The nameless woman I was speaking to at the desk summoned a file clerk. The file clerk, Carlos, took off in an elevator to determine where my prescription was hiding. Since Carlos was the only other person in the place with a name, besides my doctor (who was missing) and me (who was definitely there), I followed his progress with relief. I could watch the numbers on the elevator indicator traveling up and down from where I was standing. Carlos seemed to be having fun, spending a little time chatting with anonymous friends on every floor. I had seen something similar in a Laurel and Hardy film once.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When Carlos finally returned, he came panting out of the stairwell. I realized that I had been fooled by the blinking lights. He was doing his best. Carlos was very friendly, very apologetic, and he smiled. A smile always goes a long way with me, even when I am annoyed.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I took the sweaty prescription to the in-house pharmacy, seeing what hard work Carlos had done, and to show I had no hard feelings against him (as an individual) or my community. The cute pharmacist said that it would take about fifteen minutes to fill and gave me a sleek little black beeper, which I slid into my pocket.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I went back out to the lobby. I sat down beside a duct-taped slash on a tattered vinyl seat, and I pulled a book from my messenger bag, and I tried reading to pass the time. Right now, I am reading <em>The Longest Journey</em>, the third of five novels written by E.M. Forster, the one that nobody reads. Like the rest of humanity, I really couldn’t concentrate on <em>The Longest Journey</em> either. I had this niggling feeling that I had forgotten to tell the pharmacist something. About an allergy? An adverse reaction I once had to sulfa drugs as a child? No. It wasn’t that. It couldn’t be. All of that information was in my file. The computer would catch any dangerous drug combinations, I was sure.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, what was I missing?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I sighed and felt my thigh to see if the beeper was still there. The beeper was still there. Then I took out my iPhone from the other pocket. No bars. No reception. No calls. No Facebook. No news. <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://0/" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">3:58 pm</a>. I realized then that I had a teleconference with Chicago in two minutes and that there was no way on Earth I was going to get back to the office in time. I was going to miss my appointment. I rolled my eyes.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When I did that, I caught sight of the elevator indicator again. Moving things have a very mesmeric effect on my mind. I watched the elevator going up and down for a little while more—for ten more months, at least—until the buzzer buzzed in my pocket, shocking me back to Reality like a sudden collision with the sidewalk.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I blinked several times before I felt steady enough to get up and go over to the window where you pick up prescriptions. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To arrive at that particular nightmare, you go through another glass door and around the corner from the window where you drop your prescriptions off. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This pharmacist was pretty cute, too, but not quite as cute as the other one, I noticed, as I passed by the window and stood there, studying his face. In fact, they could have been identical twins. Except that the second fellow looked so much older than the first: apparently, the computer was down and this man had been arguing with the cadaver in front of him for the last nine years. And there were nine other mummies waiting to see him, each rather angrily enjoying a different stage of decomposition.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I left the line before I joined it. I wasn't scared by the mummies, of course, but I did mull over going back to my seat in the lobby, and watching the elevator lights again, until those curséd corpses had been disposed of by the whip-wielding, wise-cracking adventurer I knew must be on the way. (I was sure that somebody with a landline, somewhere, must have placed a call to South America.) </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But my seat was taken.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I am forty-four. And I really didn’t think it prudent to waste the next eighty-one years of my existence (9 x 9, see above) standing around; even if Dr. Obama (my missing Doctor) was already leaping into a seaplane in the Amazon basin with a fresh supply of his Incan anti-mummy vaccine; even if I could watch the elevator going up and down.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I had to be practical. I had to remember Chicago. And E.M. Forster. And you. And me. And the mummies. We might not be so lucky to live so long.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Instead, I decided to leave without my prescription. I knew that my drugs were ready, theoretically, and I guess that knowledge was almost prescription enough. I would return the beeper and come back later, when the mummies were gone.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Since I couldn’t find Carlos, I said, “Goodbye,” to my other friend, the young pharmacist who took my original prescription. I am not sure that he saw me. He seemed to be very involved with his iPhone, playing <em>Angry Birds</em>.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I took the train back to the office and sent a note of apology to my colleagues in Chicago about the meeting, mentioning my run-in with the mummies. </span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I still haven’t heard back from Chicago.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span> </div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-35213870281043061402013-08-27T10:29:00.001-04:002013-08-27T11:17:17.658-04:00The Ginkgo<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Pages, pages</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left;"></span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left;"></span></span></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
all around</div>
</span><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
my courtyard fall</div>
</span><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
without a sound.</div>
</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
Yet, full of sage</div>
</span><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
advice, this tree</div>
</span><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
might hold a book,</div>
</span><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
dog-eared, like me:</div>
</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
a paperback,</div>
</span><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
spine cracked and dry,</div>
</span><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
shedding leaves</div>
</span><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
and leaving sky.</div>
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br /></div>
</span></span><br />Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-62944563473407703482013-08-25T21:32:00.002-04:002013-08-27T13:05:37.261-04:00The Loon<br />
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">I know it sounds crazy, but—like
you—I might be a tenure-track catamite today, instead of a virtuous poet
working temp jobs that I detest: if only Fred had selected a slightly tighter
pair of pants that evening—our first date. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Our dinner was fine.
French. Bouillabaisse. His conversation and his choice of wine, thoughtful and
excellent. We discussed my possible future—the famous men and women (and others)
that I might meet at cocktail parties with his help. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">After coffee and crème de
menthe, we took a stroll. He waxed poetic, rattling off bits of Bishop and
Merrill by the light of a waning moon. It was a beautiful autumn night. The sky
was clear. The air was crisp. Three or four stars sparkled above Manhattan. I
doubt that we would have lived happily ever after, but we might have enjoyed a
few evenings of strip-poker in his apartment, or, at the very least, a healthy
hand of Old Maid. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">It was not to be. I was his
student, you see, and a former gymnast, as I had just demonstrated on the
horizontal bar in a little park near his apartment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Fred Roland was here on a
special Visa: a visiting professor of poetry at the university. And he wore
baggy khakis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">I looked down at his face.
I kind of admired the man for attempting to defy time as well as gravity:
turning purple, eyes-bulging, hanging upside down in
Washington Heights—keys, credit cards, condoms, and a handful of change
cascading from his pockets. I realized with sadness that cards were
probably no longer in the cards for us. Not even Old Maid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">So much for my career. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">I lifted my eyes toward
Heaven, and I sighed, “Don’t kill yourself, dear.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">He consented to live, with
a grunt, after a painful attempt at something more spectacular—some kind of
spin—before he dismounted, with stinging soles, upon the Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Fred staggered over to a
nearby slide and sat on its steely lip, to catch his breath and balance. I
crouched to collect the scattered contents of his khakis, chattering about how
I had once crushed my nuts in junior high attempting a similar move. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">He said nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">When I thought I had collected
everything, I handed the stuff back to him. He sorted it. He counted the
change. He looked at me quizzically. And then he looked around. He squinted and he said, a touch tersely it
seemed to me, “I think you missed something.” He winced, “over there.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">He pointed to a derelict
disk shining in the dark. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">I followed his shaking
finger and walked over to where he was pointing, to see for myself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">He was right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">I had missed something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">I picked it up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;">Even in the dim orange
light under the swings, I could tell it was a coin. A newly minted dollar. A
lost Canadian Loon.</span><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-language: JA;"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-31433389683765051722013-08-23T14:24:00.001-04:002013-08-25T13:31:01.312-04:00The Man Inside<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Goose-stepping down a model</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tokyo street, picture a man</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">half-dressed in a Gojira suit</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">preparing to stomp around Japan.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Suspended by suspenders, his</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">lower parts are all reptile—</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">rubber ones, I grant you—fake.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All is fake except his smile</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The smile is real. He loves his job:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">crushing cars, burning towns, killing.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Monsters have more fun than us.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They know it's far more thrilling</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">to revel in monstrosity</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">than be a good man for forever,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">lying in a foreign field</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">nobody will visit. Never.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-54971869902474904832013-08-19T11:54:00.001-04:002013-09-14T11:05:04.544-04:00Dawn<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Fall mornings like this</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">conjure up the hand</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">of Helios. I see</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">the great sun god himself,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">patting the flanks of his horses</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">with affectionate fire,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">offering one last word</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">of advice to Phaëton,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">before the eager boy</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">takes off in his chariot,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">and loses control of the day,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">the night, the entire sky.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div>
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-13779531054378057032013-08-12T12:53:00.001-04:002013-10-29T10:31:53.960-04:00The Iliad<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For J.M.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Death changes nothing. Priam still is king.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Horses run. Fresh flowers—</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">lilac, rose—</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">still lift the spirit out of time to sing</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">an everlasting song. No heroes</span></div>
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Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-88474591870823772182013-08-11T11:05:00.001-04:002013-08-11T11:05:22.446-04:00Lux Fiat<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Sitting by the Hudson,</span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">reading Borges, I</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">removed my Ray-Bans,</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">looking up from my book,</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">risking a little blindness.</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">I wanted to let the light</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">fill my empty eyes.</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">I wanted to be Borges.</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">I wanted to hear that</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">immortal Latin phrase,</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">spoken from nowhere,</div></span><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; ">the first day of Creation.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div></span></span>Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-67929213820759886632013-08-07T16:07:00.001-04:002013-08-09T19:00:49.784-04:00Arch<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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of;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">apart from one eyebrow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">(see) lifted in irony.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<br />
<br />Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-21066980974342442252013-08-04T13:22:00.002-04:002013-08-17T13:12:02.445-04:00Gulls<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">If it weren’t for that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">horrible screech, I might<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">begin to envy gulls:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">their tiny brains, clear
eyes,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">those feathers of ash,
and those<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">hollow bones; that flesh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">so rich in fat it floats<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">effortlessly in water,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">air, above fires; the way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">they twist and turn around<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the local siroccos rising<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">flames create for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">If only they’d shut up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">I really do admire<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">their special spiral
flight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">pattern (patterned after<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">Yeats’s infamous<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">gyres, I suppose)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">sustained by next to
nothing—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the minimum of toil—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">pure buoyancy—like music—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the sweetest morsel of<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">humanity; nourishment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">picked up on the sly from some<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">colossal black barge<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">passing out to sea,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">full of rotting garbage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;"><br></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-50440999823598310442013-08-03T13:58:00.003-04:002013-08-14T15:46:20.386-04:00A Roman Portrait<a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QpbTlp3LgGQ/Uf1Fhfnd7RI/AAAAAAAAA1g/WI6m_A9xM5k/s640/blogger-image-1070113432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QpbTlp3LgGQ/Uf1Fhfnd7RI/AAAAAAAAA1g/WI6m_A9xM5k/s320/blogger-image-1070113432.jpg" width="238" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">Who is this young man</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">with dark and curly hair</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">found buried in Egypt?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">Is he still aware</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">how handsome he is?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">How senusous his lips?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">How, looking at him now,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">his picture quietly slips</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">into another one:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">another pair of eyes</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">buried in my brain.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">Both still so alive.</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-61007174709213710302013-08-03T10:01:00.001-04:002013-08-03T13:57:38.627-04:00August 2nd, 2013<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A man with glasses reads about</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The battle of El Alamein</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In <i>A Brief History of the World</i></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Stuck on the lucky 7-train.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-73093095350718642842013-07-30T12:48:00.001-04:002013-10-24T09:01:28.764-04:00Life on Earth<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">For Wendy</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Eyes fastened to a lightning bug</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">dipping down, I saw this slug</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">sitting on a gray flagstone.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He looked depressed. He sat alone,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">pointing antennae at the sky</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">like an astronomer. I</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">forgot my bug, distracted by</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">those turning aerials. One rose</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">slightly higher from his head</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">and stiffened strangely when I said,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I wonder what you’re listening for?<a name="_GoBack"></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">God walking in the garden or</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">a killer asteroid? A mate?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Frenchman carrying a plate?”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Always curious to see</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">how others look at you and me,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I quickly rattled off my list</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">of possibilities. But his</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">response was slow. I still can hear</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">that dreadful silence. Loud and clear.</span></p>Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6333876351532895745.post-47066844035613747182013-07-27T15:09:00.002-04:002013-09-10T10:02:41.954-04:00HoraceNow, if you can’t silence your neighbors—<br />
<div>
the bang below, the screams above, the tongue</div>
<div>
full of obscenities—remember: your</div>
<div>
ears are sewers that empty into Lethe.</div>
<div>
Why not go out for a walk? Ignore the clouds</div>
<div>
of midges murmuring about the dead</div>
<div>
dragonfly with iridescent wings</div>
<div>
the rain beat down and washed to the grate.</div>
<div>
Grieve for him privately, and sincerely,</div>
<div>
in your own way. Celebrate his life</div>
<div>
somehow: a hymn you hum when you’re alone;</div>
<div>
not some expensive statue, like those bronze</div>
<div>
divinities from Greece, standing around—</div>
<div>
naked, shivering—frightened to find</div>
<div>
themselves the stars of a Roman spectacle.</div>
<div>
We do not need to visit the Arena—</div>
<div>
avert our eyes or revel in the slaughter.</div>
<div>
Find comfort in the uncomfortable fact</div>
<div>
you can’t change History. Remember: all</div>
<div>
those roads that lead to Rome also lead</div>
<div>
away. If each direction's lined with graves,</div>
<div>
walk on. Follow the road to Avernus—</div>
<div>
the undiscovered country. It is still</div>
<div>
in relatively good repair. Pack lunch.</div>
<div>
Have a picnic in the shade. There,</div>
<div>
you may meet an old friend, like I did:</div>
<div>
a tipsy gentleman dressed in a toga,</div>
<div>
taking a turn around his property,</div>
<div>
surprised to see he has a visitor.</div>
<div>
Horace is always glad to entertain.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Eric Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14134441351114653719noreply@blogger.com0