Autumn.
My skin falls and yours is not there.
I turn to the canvas, but its not color I want to smear your whiteness with. I face the white screen, but its not light that I seek.
I confront the blank page, but words will not bring solace.
Then my skin falls on the piano ivory.
Fingers sliding down each key.
Caresses that the air won`t keep.
The music was already playing in my head.
The Norse vs Inuit approach
There are many seemingly “small events” in history to which we do not pay much attention, when actually they provide very important lessons. I always talk about historical examples of perfectly successful cooperatives and anarchist self government. But this time I want to comment on a very different historical event: the Norse attempt to colonize Greenland.
When the Norse tried to colonize Greenland, the Inuit already lived there.
Afghanistan already is the longest (official) war in US history.
In order to begin to understand that mess, as usual in modern history, we may have to go back to the end of World War II, when Pakistan`s colonial nominees, the “Taliban”, were sent to take over Afghanistan to give them a strategic edge over India in the war over Kashmir.
Today the Taliban and Pakistans ISI (Directorate for Inter-Service Intelligence) alliance are at the heart of why the USA is stuck in an endless war: the USA aligns, or so it would seem, much more with India in terms of values, policy, economy, etc, than with Pakistan.
I can`t seem to be able to keep up. Too much going on at all levels. So my “done this and that” posts are going to be reduced to the minimum expression.
September 5th I went to this event I already talked about.
September 7th I was invited to attend the premiere of a documentary about Gerhard Richter at the New Museum. It was very revealing and sad to see how Richters art critic/historian proposed an interpretation of one of his paintings that Richter did not seem to agree on, but after a few minutes of conversation, he "accepted".
On Thursday I was invited to the New Musuem for the screening of “Graffiti – PostGraffiti” documentary and panel discussion.
Your usual suspects were there. Besides the panelist (Pattie Astor, Fab Five Freddy, Lady Pink, and Lee Quinones), there were many old glories and a couple of aspiring bomber kids in the audience that I am sure were tagging walls late that night.
What started as a celebration, a remembrance, and a comunion, as the liturgy advanced ended up becoming a hurtful vindication and even a flat out purist attack.
I`m the man that fears rejection
Im the man that cant sleep because of problems
I`m the man that will fight and defend the castle
Lying on the carpet, poetry book and pencil in hand, U2 in the background.
October
October
And the trees are stripped bare
Of all they wear
What do I care
October
And kingdoms rise
And kingdoms fall
But you go on…and on…
So many literal meanings: the fear of wearing-out (The Edge was considering leaving the band like his brother did before they were even called U2), the false sense of security arising from self-defeat (“What do I care”), moving on after a loss (both Bono and Larry had just lost their mothers), the high hopes and expectations arising from new democracies in Eastern Europe only to become despair and dissapointment, and eventually resilience, surviving, going on…
