Plague Journal, Traveling Blind

May 31, 2021 Jerry King Comments 0 Comment

And you know that she’s half-crazy but that’s why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China…

And she shows you where to look among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed, there are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love and they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror

And you want to travel with her, and you want to travel blind
And then you know that you can trust her
For she’s touched your perfect body with her mind

— Excerpt, Suzanne by Leonard Cohen

–*–

Monday, Memorial Day. I awakened with one thought in mind. I thought/felt that I am a troubled man. Not the first time that thought has occurred to me. By now I am becoming accustomed to discomfort of mind, the felt sense that life is always in some respect “out of control.” The example that comes to me is of a powerful drag car, launched from a stand-still by a driver who feels “by the seat of his/her pants” the transmission of rising horsepower to the oversized slicks, to the hot asphalt… That, — a split second moment of feeling and of being “on the edge.” One grasps the steering wheel, — instinct makes corrections to keep the plunging vehicle in the center of the lane… No time for thinking, — just do!

That is how some days of normal life feel to me. Life itself has potential to produce intense power; that is glimpses of beauty, of splendor, of innocence, of hope and of stupidity, of desperation, of cruelty, of mono-maniacal selfishness.

It is enough that I, that we simply hang on. There are “heroes in the seaweed,” and children who, every morning are on the lookout for love, and for something to love.

If you and I pay attention, life itself will show us where to look for the heroes and the children. Indeed are not all of us traveling blind?

What is life without music? I am not the one to answer that question.

We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

By The Animals

In this dirty old part of the city
Where the sun refuse to shine
People tell me there ain’t no use in trying
Now my girl you’re so young and pretty
And one thing I know is true
You’ll be dead before your time is due
I know
Watch my daddy in bed and tired
Watch his hair been turning gray
He’s been working and slaving his life away
Oh yes, I know it
He’s been working so hard
I’ve been working too babe
Every night and day
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
We gotta get out of this place
If its the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
‘Cause girl, there’s a better life
For me and you
Now my girl you’re so young and pretty
And one thing I know is true, yeah
You’ll be dead before your time is due
I know it
Watch my daddy in bed and tired
Watch his hair been turning gray
He’s been working and slaving his life away
I know
He’s been working so hard
I’ve been working too babe
Every day baby
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
We gotta get out of this place
If its the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl, there’s a better life
For me and you
Somewhere baby
Somehow I know it baby
We gotta get out of this place
If its the last thing we ever do
We gotta get out of this place
Girl, there’s a better life for me and you
Believe me baby
I know it baby
You know it too