Monday, July 23, 2012

QUOTE OF THE WEEK [FROM ME THIS TIME]

I found this in an old journal I was glancing through for archival reasons. It's from 7/13/74:

     "—sometimes
      I feel myself on the verge
       of expressing what hasnt
       been expressed since some
      prehistoric or at least ancient
    human wandered on the outside
    ('edges') of a cruel society
       (or a society which at least
        sometimes required cruelty)
   and knew he/she could not
     only live without that but
      could be 'happy and well'
      and even fulfilled!—"

[I did add a coda:      "only
      it never gets to be more
        than a 'feeling'
             an internal experience
                                         etc."]

2 comments:

JenW said...

That’s a heartfelt quote of the week, M. An artist suffers deeply in the face of cruelty…. Rest assured you are doing your part. The world can be a cruel and violent place, however, in a modern civilized society, citizens need to work towards a peaceful, compassionate way of life. Poets, musicians, artists and caring people from all walks of life do their part each and every day through their work and how they live. These gentle hearts instill in their children above all: “be kind to yourself and be kind to others”. Politicians and gun people are the ones who need to wake up and act in humanistic and rational ways. There is absolutely no excuse for allowing the sale of automatic weapons and “clips”. We need strict gun laws. We are not living in the colonial days= this is high tech and fatal equipment. Also- there were people who saw warning signs in Colorado with suspect A. The owner of the shooting range said he heard a bizarre/eerie message on his answering machine. That should have been reported to authorities and immediately acted upon. Do gun people have any common sense, idea of safety or moral responsibility? In a perfect world, people would treat others the way in which poets dream.

Lally said...

Great comment Jen. All I can say is Amen.