When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.
- Henry David Thoreau -
Condensing fact from the vapor of nuance since 2003
12.7.06
(Sullivan) 1999
Well, you say it's such a small, small world
flying Club Class back from the far-east
curled up safe and warm in the big chair
you were drifting through the skies of anywhere
Get the courtesy car to the Sheraton
there's live on-the-spot reports on the CNN between the ad-breaks
so you think you know what's going on - but you don't
because you weren't in Belfast, no you weren't there
and no you weren't in Waco, no you weren't there
and you weren't in Kosovo, you weren't there
and you weren't in my head so you don't know how it felt
walking arm in arm with crowds to the square
and the banners waving and the sun glinting
All this information swims round and round
like a shoal of fish in a tank going nowhere
Up and down between the glass walls
You're so safe in the knowledge they're impenetrable
and you look out at the world and see nothing at all
so go back to sleep and you'll be woken when the time comes
and you'll never know just what hit you or where it came from
because you weren't in Bradford, no you weren't there
and you weren't on the hill, no you weren't there
and you weren't with us so you never saw
just what happened when the television crews came knocking on the door
how the people told them all to go to Hell,
smashed the cameras and sent them away
There were sirens going off and policemen coming in
and all that you love was being swept away
in the rush of a black tide all done in your name
and you'll never know just what happened there
or how it feels - just how it feels . . .
4.7.06
Ezekiel 1
1And it cometh to pass, in the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], in the fifth of the month, and I [am] in the midst of the Removed by the river Chebar, the heavens have been opened, and I see visions of God.
2In the fifth of the month -- it is the fifth year of the removal of the king Jehoiachin --
3hath the word of Jehovah certainly been unto Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar, and there is on him there a hand of Jehovah.
4And I look, and lo, a tempestuous wind is coming from the north, a great cloud, and fire catching itself, and brightness to it round about, and out of its midst as the colour of copper, out of the midst of the fire.
5And out of its midst [is] a likeness of four living creatures, and this [is] their appearance; a likeness of man [is] to them,
6and four faces [are] to each, and four wings [are] to each of them,
7and their feet [are] straight feet, and the sole of their feet [is] as a sole of a calf's foot, and they are sparkling as the colour of bright brass;
8and hands of man under their wings -- on their four sides, and their faces and their wings -- [are] to them four;
9joining one unto another [are] their wings, they turn not round in their going, each straight forward they go.
10As to the likeness of their faces, the face of a man, and the face of a lion, toward the right [are] to them four, and the face of an ox on the left [are] to them four, and the face of an eagle [are] to them four.
11And their faces and their wings are separate from above, to each [are] two joining together, and two are covering their bodies.
12And each straight forward they go, whither the spirit is to go, they go, they turn not round in their going.
13As to the likeness of the living creatures, their appearances [are] as coals of fire -- burning as the appearance of lamps; it is going up and down between the living creatures, and brightness [is] to the fire, and out of the fire is going forth lightning.
14And the living creatures are running, and turning back, as the appearance of the flash.
15And I see the living creatures, and lo, one wheel [is] in the earth, near the living creatures, at its four faces.
16The appearance of the wheels and their works [is] as the colour of beryl, and one likeness [is] to them four, and their appearances and their works [are] as it were the wheel in the midst of the wheel.
17On their four sides, in their going they go, they turn not round in their going.
18As to their rings, they are both high and fearful, and their rings [are] full of eyes round about them four.
19And in the going of the living creatures, the wheels go beside them, and in the living creatures being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels.
20Whither the spirit is to go, they go, thither the spirit [is] to go, and the wheels are lifted up over-against them, for a living spirit [is] in the wheels.
21In their going, they go; and in their standing, they stand; and in their being lifted up from off the earth, lifted up are the wheels over-against them; for a living spirit [is] in the wheels.
22And a likeness [is] over the heads of the living creatures of an expanse, as the colour of the fearful ice, stretched out over their heads from above.
23And under the expanse their wings [are] straight, one toward the other, to each are two covering on this side, and to each are two covering on that side -- their bodies.
24And I hear the noise of their wings, as the noise of many waters, as the noise of the Mighty One, in their going -- the noise of tumult, as the noise of a camp, in their standing they let fall their wings.
25And there is a voice from above the expanse, that [is] above their head: in their standing they let fall their wings.
26And above the expanse that [is] over their head, as an appearance of a sapphire stone, [is] the likeness of a throne, and on the likeness of the throne a likeness, as the appearance of man upon it from above.
27And I see as the colour of copper, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upward, and from the appearance of his loins and downward, I have seen as the appearance of fire, and brightness [is] to it round about.
28As the appearance of the bow that is in a cloud in a day of rain, so [is] the appearance of the brightness round about.
I dreamed about swords last night.
I dreamed about battle last night.
I dreamed I fought by your side
armoured and strong, last night.
Lightning flashed harsh from your hand,
and the giants fell at your feet.
Our ranks closed lightly and sang
in silent darkness' threat.
I dreamed about blood last night.
I dreamed about death last night.
I dreamed I fell by your side
with a mortal wound, last night.
You marked not at all that I fell.
Earnest was your mouth.
With steady hand the shield you held,
and went your way straight forth.
I dreamed about fire last night.
I dreamed about roses last night.
I dreamed my death was fair and good.
So did I dream last night.
-Karin Boye
28.6.06
and a top hat on your head
a hot meal on your table
and a blanket on your bed
well today is grey skies
tomorrow is tears
you'll have to wait til yesterday is here
Well I'm going to New York City
and I'm leaving on a train
and if you want to stay behind and
wait til I come back again
well today is grey skies
tomorrow is tears
you'll have to wait til yesterday is here
If you want to go
where the rainbows end
you'll have to say goodbye
all our dreams come true
baby up ahead
and it's out where your memories lie
well the road's out before me
and the moon is shining bright
what I want you to remember
as I disappear tonight
today is grey skies
tomorrow's tears
you'll have to wait til yesterday is here
(Waits / Brennan)
26.6.06
24.6.06
23.6.06
12.6.06

On dark nights gods come.
They walk between the houses
like tall black towers,
with darting eyes.
With hard hands they feel the roofs,
they speak the language of men
who lived on the earth before us
and died and went away.
In the morning sometimes there's a rock in front of the door
and a broken stone wall at the side of the road
and in the field the print of heavy foot
and in the sky the reflection of violent storms.
- Gregor Strnisa

Down it goes.
Shitting away one last
bout of hypochondria
like newborn worlds out
of some aussie outback whore
Backtracking my way
through another five
ten pages of the latest
blood work stool samples nerve
mustard cambodian loempia snack.
On to the den with my jeans
belted around my ankles
buckle dragging chink-a-clack
as with the Scottish undead
walking armour
Still the colours so vivid.
2.6.06
29.5.06
A partir de hoje és tu que traduzes a palavra cúmplice - dou-te a paisagem sem tréguas dos meus furores gratuitos. Faz com ela o resto da fome imprevista. Desejo-te nos elos que ligam aquilo que não escreves, procuro que nos possuamos como penhor da coincidência, caução do fantástico. Sabias que um amigo ousou um dia não haver ouro na mina? E que essa mesma partícula entre os mundos diurnos falou-me ontem de um sono que nos faria satélites? É verdade. Não posso a neve eterna nem quero contar lapsos a golpes de copo. O jarro preferível é sempre uma cópia, pálida e esdrúxula, do teu peito razão para a noite ventre e conforto.
Talvez te deseje nas curvas da estrada. Talvez desenhe penínsulas ocultas. Talvez a pele não termine onde supomos o ar.
Fica escrito no sol mais distante que a tua mão pariu estes minutos.
28.5.06

Catharsis, Latin from the Greek Katharsis 'purification', is a sudden emotional breakdown or climax that constitutes overwhelming feelings of great pity, sorrow, laughter, or any extreme change in emotion that results in the renewal, restoration and revitalization for living.
Catharsis is a form of emotional cleansing first defined by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. It refers to the sensation, or literary effect, that would ideally overcome an audience upon finishing watching a tragedy. The fact that there existed those who could suffer a worse fate than them was to them a relief, and at the end of the play, they felt ekstasis (literally, astonishment), from which the modern word exstasis and ecstasy are derived. While seemingly related to schadenfreude, it is not, however, in the sense that the audience is not intentionally led to feel happy in light of others' misfortunes; in an invariant sense, their spirits are refreshed through having greater appreciation for life.
In literary aesthetics catharsis is developed by the conjuction of stereotyped characters and unique or surprising actions. Throughout a play we do not expect the nature of a character to change significantly, rather pre-existing elements are revealed in a relatively straight-forward way as the character is confronted with unique actions in time. This can be clearly seen in Oedipus Rex where King Oedipus is confronted with ever more outrageous actions until emptying generated by the death of his mother-wife and his act of self-blinding. As a literary effect, catharsis should be compared with the equivalent effects for epic and poetic forms of kairosis and kenosis.
In contemporary aesthetics catharsis may also refer to any emptying of emotion experienced by an audience in relation to drama. This exstasis can be perceived in comedy, melodrama and most other dramatic forms. Deliberate attempts, on political or aesthetic bases, to subvert the structure of catharsis in theatre have occurred. For example, Bertold Brecht viewed catharsis as a pap for the bourgeois theatre audience, and designed dramas which left significant emotions unresolved, as a way to force social action upon the audience. In Brecht's theory, the absence of a cathartic resolving action would require the audience to take political action in the real world in order to fill the emotional gap they experience. This technique can be seen as early as his agit-prop play The measures taken.
22.5.06
15.5.06
Quando estamos cansados
deitamos o corpo
e adormecemos
às vezes não
procuramos outra mão
outros olhos
que nos limpem a fadiga
e evitem o sono
que nos vem antigo
quando estamos cansados
podemos erguer o corpo
e acordar
e morrer acordados
sem cansaço
-Mário-Henrique Leiria
(vindo da Ju que hoje foi a mão, os olhos)
14.5.06
- Fernando Pessoa


