"Soul Sacrifice"

                             There are some of us who are CONSUMED by Suffering , and NOT "in a good way" either .   Suffering at this vector MUST-BE considered a form of Cancer, HARDLY Noble HARDLY  Virtuous .  

            Here it is where Universal Suffering is funneled into Ego thereby generating Depression , a Depression that presents Suicide as the ONLY Relief ,{Cure} .   We have viewed ROMANTIC portrayals of Writers and Poets gracefully entering a pond with the SOUL Intent of exiting the World of Suffering   Literally to "Drown one's Self in Sorrow" .   Somehow, for what ever Reason, these Artists considered Death to be a MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE .  Whoa,   that's a tough one .  

              Clearly, at this Stage,  Suffering has become "UN-Manageable" .   This is where the 8-Fold Noble Path enters .   Hesse did NOT  "get to the next level" ---  and if he did, {I'm CERTAIN HE DID} he didn't write a novel about Transcending Suffering .  

              Can one Transcend Suffering ???   Yes   and    No .

Perpetual Penitence

                         Our "Western Civ" professor, Dr. Langer, 'worked-over' Hesse's passages on the rubber knob at the end of his cane {Cane and Unable} .   Hesse figured it to be decadent and bourgeois --  a something so small as to be INSIGNIFICANT to barely interested Others .  Yet Hesse FELT Shame and Guilt where NONE should have existed AT ALL !    "For better AND for worse", I'm THERE with him on THAT .   

            German Intellectuals seemed OBSESSED about Universal Suffering but it was Hesse who depicted It as the Curse of Anti-System Revolutionaries .   Hesse deemed Suffering as Noble VIRTUE [of all things] and 'resided' in what I call "Perpetual Penitence" .   

            With "Great Compassion" comes even Greater Suffering... but it was the Great Suffering a True Man uses to vault his way up and into the Stratosphere of Utopia .   There remained V a s t Lament for Earthly Conditions --- but a True Man TOLERATES these Conditions with OBJECTIVE Rationality, effectively cartooned by Mad Magazine and its "What, me worry ?"  displacement .   {Alfred E. Newman as Knight Templar}.

Cane and Unable

                              I've wondered why Hermann Hesse did not write a sequel to Steppenwolf .   Perhaps the life of a mild-mannered middle-aged man was not a 'hot topic',  was not relevant, or he simply did NOT consider the Steppenwolf as a worthy platform .   Recall that the vivid scenes were the result of drug ingestion and German Wine .   Recall that there was NEVER to be sexual intercourse with Hermine, we later learn was his [Jungian] Anima ---the Female Within .   Still----- what was to become of Harry ?   Did he  relinquish  his  hold  on  'bourgeois' Realty,   the  so-called   "Status Quo"   of  {surreal}  imbecilic superficiality ?

            

The Soft-Ness Monster

                               The Remington mini-furnace sputters   

                                My kitten curled asleep

                               In Chairy Chair's lair .

                                I sit back at my desk

                                And wonder about a poem .

Kitten Komisseration*

                         I can write, 'poignant' Cynicism, but is there any other kind ?   

            The Transitive Law  If  A=B and B=C Then A=C has given me "fits and starts" .   I mean, it's CLEARLY a 'syllogism' of the HIGHEST Order but I just don't like it .  If Truth = Beauty and Beauty Kills, then Truth Kills .  It's NOT Transitive,, but the Syllogism Logic MUST apply .  

            Tell me how If one apple = one pear, and one pear = one carrot The one apple MUST EQUAL one carrot ?    I'm not buyin' it .   I can SEE that they are NOT Equal .

            

            

"Listen to the mandaline* rain..."

                              Painters can paint themselves OUT of a corner ;  rwiters, not so much .   Exasperation has resulted in a profound Cynicism from which Humor is the only escape {relief} ; indeed, the Late GREAT Joan Rivers snapped back at a heckler,   "Humor is how we Deal !"  .   Bruce Hornsby and his Range somber, "I'm not dealing so well."  I echo-o-o that .

            

            

            

The rwiter

                             I'm thinking about writing a poem that begins with this line : "I'm constipated" .   The poem is about not being able to write because there's SO-MUCH to write about that 'daunt' becomes paralysis .   I CERTAINLY don't want to take responsibility for this Winter STALL-sis, I'd much rather claim S.A.D. default .  

             My College "Modern Novels" Professor, Dr. Moynihan, cautioned me about laxing* into melodramatic self-pity .   Here I am .

             I gave up writing poems because I found myself agonizing over just one word --  sometimes for weeks at a time .  2 words :  ridiculous .

             It's not lyke* writing poetry is stupit* --- it isn't--- but for me, it got to be an obsession of self- indulgence ---  to think of myself as a poet was unbearable .