EAST COKER By T. S. Eliot I In that open field If you do not come too close, if you do not come too close, On a summer midnight, you can hear the music Of the weak pipe and the little drum And see them dancing around the bonfire The association of man and…
From time to time we need to be separated from ourselves to gaze upon ourselves from above, and, from an artistic distance, to laugh and cry over ourselves. We must discover the hero no less than the fool in our passion for knowledge; we must occasionally find pleasure in our folly or we cannot…
A philosophy that does not make us happier, more virtuous; that on the contrary, lets it be understood that one will likely perish in its service; that one will be isolated from one’s times, burned and scaled; that one will have to pass through every contempt and hate; that one will need a great…
What is great in humankind is that he is a bridge and not an end: What can be loved in man is that he/she is a passage and a fall. –Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Prologue §4 I love he/she whose soul is deep, even in being wounded, and who can perish of a small experience:…
How often is a sign encountered that “points one way.” No matter how strong the affection, the essence, the soul-deep person that we love, even with a desperate love — must take journey that differs from the one which fate has determined I must take. It is simply not true that love conquers all. …
I can only be this whole man, by letting go. I cannot be that being through my will: my will is necessarily a will to succeed! If misfortune (or chance) wants me to let go, then I would know that I am the whole man, subordinated to nothing. In other words, a moment of…
Recovery continues from Covid. Paxlovid, the anti-viral med seems to be working. Thus far I am able to read and to write. I could be much worse off. I feel gratitude. This is a segment from this morning’s New York Times concerning the collapse and cardiac arrest of Buffalo Bill’s Damar Hamlin on Monday…
Sunday is the first day of 2023. As we mark time, the New Year has begun. We chose to spend New Year’s Eve dining at Foxfire in Geneva. We were seated at our table promptly in accord with our reservation and expectation. The table service was as efficient, our server communicated a warmth that was…
New Year’s eve! Here is a fragment of a poem, Nothing New by Richard Greene: The world doesn’t stop at midnight like a train changing engineers. There’s no bump in the road of time. The scene hasn’t changed. The characters remain the same. The play goes on as before. Dramatic climax is no more…
The Germans are undoubtedly giving up. The artillery in the night shakes the doors. At dusk, twenty some inexpressibly violent explosions (an important ammunition depot went up): I felt the shock of the air between my legs and shoulders. Seven kilometers away, the flames lit up the sky. I saw one of the explosions…
