And the blindness of the blind one,
and his seeking and groping,
still testifies to the power of the sun
into which he has gazed,
– did you know that before?

And with mountains shall the discerning one learn to build!
It is a small thing for the spirit
to remove mountains,
– did you know that before?

You know only the sparks of the spirit:
but you do not see the anvil which it is,
and the cruelty of its hammer!

Truly, you do not know the spirit’s pride!
Therefore even less could you endure the spirit’s humility,
should it ever want to speak!

And yet you could never cast your spirit
into a pit of snow: you are not hot enough for that!
Therefore are you unaware,
also, of the delight of its
coldness.

In all respects, however,
you believe yourself all too familiar with the spirit;
and out of wisdom you have often made an alms-house
and a hospital for bad poets.

You are not eagles:
therefore you have never experienced
the happiness of the alarm of the spirit.
And he who is not a bird
should not camp above
abysses.

You seem lukewarm ones:
but all deep knowledge flows coldly.
Ice-cold are the innermost wells of the spirit:
a refreshment to hot hands
and handlers.

You stand there respectable, and stiff,
and with straight backs,
you famous wise ones!
– no strong wind or will impels you.

Have you never seen a sail
crossing the sea,
rounded and inflated,
and trembling with the violence of the wind?

Like the sail trembling
with the violence of the spirit,
does my wisdom cross the sea
– my wild wisdom!

But you servants of the people,
you famous wise ones
– how could you go with me!

-Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. by Thomas Common, Part II, The Famous Wise Ones No. 30*

My friend is a writer, a poet, and a photographer too. His recent post entitled Machismo…and Why? was a meditation on the significance of a once traditional American male ritual. Those who remember the muscle-car era, the time of the Beach Boys and the Beatles, also recall that 5 year time span or so, when the Pontiac GTO, Ford Mustang, Olds 442 and Dodge/Plymouth Hemi were iconic of male virility, and of American industrial dominance. Perhaps you remember seeing someone in a Detroit-Iron muscle-car perform a ripping, smoky burnout in a parking lot, or on the street? That was not unusual for the time.

That was another time. The guys then with left hand on the steering wheel, the right, gripping the Hurst shifter are now old men in Congress, (does it matter which party?). Or they are suburban mayors, or perhaps a retiree living in a small town.

Our standing issue, the unavoidable elephant in the room: What is a way forward, for us, for such of us willing and able to make common cause, to build another America. That is, – a new edition society out of these debris, these ravages of a party (the former Republican Party) and a segment of our fellow Americans who continue to endorse raw violence, the advocacy of ignorance, and the use of blackmail and extortion of our allies… To rephrase: how to sketch the blueprint, to rebuild from this pile of wreckage?

Nietzsche insists that we certainly must find “wild wisdom”. Wild wisdom is described mysteriously as the will to gaze into the sun, at risk of blindness. Wild wisdom is portrayed as both anvil and a cruel hammer. Perhaps you’ve observed a blacksmith drawing out red-hot steel on an anvil!? To be sure some of us must learn to build, even if we have to move mountains.

According to Nietzsche/Zarathustra we must learn to identify good poetry, and cease patronizing loud, bloviating, spewing mouths, as if we could build a hospital to rehabilitate bullying words. All of this is “bad poetry” and deserves our turned backs, not our faces!

Respectability, erect, “stick up the ass” – stiffly saluting the flag, is NOT to get the job done. The old norms and practices have been shattered, – the universe never allows humpty-dumpty to be reassembled.

Help Wanted: men and women willing to ride the wind, to pitch camp above the abyss!

* I took a writers privilege to swap some of the anachronistic English terms in the translation for terms in current usage.