from Prelude
[by Haitian poet Rene {acute accent over the final "e"} Depestre,
translated by Joan Dayan]
1
...
And like the black pastor who stirs up
The still living ashes of his church
I stir up the legends of my life
I will not build any new temples
I blow up my fear
I explode my biology
In a rain of stars upon your heads
I have come to stuff your dogs with straw
I have come to stuff your ferocious laws
I preserve your prayers in alcohol
Your tricks your taboos your white man's lies!
And the crown of thorns of which you are so proud
I put it on the head of my trained bear
Both of us will climb
On the next plane for London
Paris Rome Madrid Lisbon Brussels
Toronto Los Angeles Miami Capetown Sydney
The world will see what you have done
With the man who was crying under the olive trees!
~~~
The Haiti Depestre fled is suffused with violence today.
A few walk around w/ ashes on their foreheads.
Sacred, celluloid blood. A Blockbuster. Make it literal!
& Depestre's _A Rainbow for the Christian West_ is out of print!
Order it used. Or I can copy sections.
~~~
o slainte!
j.c.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Trolling for talk about "Ash Wednesday" the Christian holy day & the Eliot poem I found this:
flambingo
neither use nor ornament
« terror preparations | Main | tiny robot army » March 05, 2003
ash wednesday
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the aged eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?
T S Eliot
walking down kingsway this lunchtime i came across a crowd of people with grey smudges on thier foreheads and remembered it was ash wednesday. while no believer myself it made me nostagic for some time which was regulated by feasts and fasts and ceremonies rather than finacial quarters and hallmark festivals.
nostalgia is the wrong word, it implies a longing for something that you have experienced.
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Posted by flambingo at March 5, 2003 02:02 PM
Comments
unlimited long distance and cheap t1 lines
The comment is accompanied by an email address: www.usatalkcheap.com.
I enjoyed the juxtaposition of these words:
"nostalgia is the wrong word, it implies a longing for something that you have [not?] experienced."
&
"some time which was regulated by feasts and fasts and ceremonies rather than fina[n]cial quarters and hallmark festivals."
w/ these words:
"unlimited long distance and cheap t1 lines"
~~~
On this Ash Wednesday I have been teaching my students how to analyze advertisements. The duen del internet* is telling me something, no? But what is it?
~~~
*"Duende" was probably derived from "duen de casa," which was itself derived from "dueno de casa," [add "~" (tilde) to the "n"] or in English, "owner of a house". By way of reverse construction & the influence of the modern use of "duende", "owner" implies not only legal possession but spiritual possession as well.
flambingo
neither use nor ornament
« terror preparations | Main | tiny robot army » March 05, 2003
ash wednesday
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the aged eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?
T S Eliot
walking down kingsway this lunchtime i came across a crowd of people with grey smudges on thier foreheads and remembered it was ash wednesday. while no believer myself it made me nostagic for some time which was regulated by feasts and fasts and ceremonies rather than finacial quarters and hallmark festivals.
nostalgia is the wrong word, it implies a longing for something that you have experienced.
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Posted by flambingo at March 5, 2003 02:02 PM
Comments
unlimited long distance and cheap t1 lines
The comment is accompanied by an email address: www.usatalkcheap.com.
I enjoyed the juxtaposition of these words:
"nostalgia is the wrong word, it implies a longing for something that you have [not?] experienced."
&
"some time which was regulated by feasts and fasts and ceremonies rather than fina[n]cial quarters and hallmark festivals."
w/ these words:
"unlimited long distance and cheap t1 lines"
~~~
On this Ash Wednesday I have been teaching my students how to analyze advertisements. The duen del internet* is telling me something, no? But what is it?
~~~
*"Duende" was probably derived from "duen de casa," which was itself derived from "dueno de casa," [add "~" (tilde) to the "n"] or in English, "owner of a house". By way of reverse construction & the influence of the modern use of "duende", "owner" implies not only legal possession but spiritual possession as well.
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