A ghazal for "Precipitates"

And another one! (hopefully, they'll keep on coming) 8^) This one's styled after a "ghazal", the Anglicized name for an ancient Persian-Arabic form of verse. The stylistic hallmarks of the ghazal include the refrain, which ends the opening lines of the first couplet and follows in the second line of each succeeding couplet, and the rhyme, which directly precedes each refrain. If you take the time to look a bit closely, you'll see how imaginatively one can work within the confines of this old form:

Guzzle

For K. K. –

"Language is the liquid that we're all dissolved in;
great for solving problems, after it creates a problem." – Isaac Brock

Isaac wailed and moaned to abrogate the problem.
Hurry! lest we dissolve before we demarcate the problem.

Buried in the Tetons, blame it all on language –
arbitrary solvent – feckless, we fellate the problem.

Wending words so reckless, we become their revenants:
Solute signifiers, signified substantiate the problem.

Liquefied in language, pulchrified with symbol;
Sigil de Saussure's semiosis sophisticates the problem.

Partway through caesura, now here's a syllogism:
Speaker – spoken – spoke through; try and triangulate the problem!

Poets and prosaics impious dance a dervish –
Hypocritic! O how we perambulate the problem …

Derrida had diagnosis but no antidote:
Deconstruction's no solution to ob-literate the problem.

Whirling words won't solve us; dissolute, discursive.
Could we die-elect-ic transcend, and transmigrate the problem?

Transmogrified in liquid, we must become its solvent –
Reincarnate swirling, solidified – emendate the problem!

So submerged, I tread in palavered suspension;
Have I, disheveled Daniel, been poured out to precipitate the problem?

Currently listening : And Their Refinement of the Decline By Stars of the Lid Release date: 03 April, 2007

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Another one ...

Poem, that is. Yes, I've been writing up a bit of a storm lately, working on a new volume of poetry I plan to call "Precipitates". The first such poem was "Admonition", which has been emended to the following:

Admonition

For every time our mouths open the whole world changes:
from mind through mouth idea rapined, transformed;
now corporeal; crested, a rising sun
bloody over the teeth of distant mountains
that run from the newformed flesh, the nascent word:
through gutturals and labials of the tongue
like a refugee – prodigal – it flees,
past the palate and out into the world,
now sundered, a dull curtain drawn across it;
quartered and flayed then the earth reels on,
strung on its axis she shudders, is hung:
that thought discursive, voiced could so divide and
mutilate, divorce and excoriate!

And the second, which I actually began before the above, but just recently finished:

Fluids

– Are all any epistemologist needs
(anyone who tells you different is lying)
for everyone sweats, and all living beings bleed:
eyes bleary and tearful, bodies battered and crying;
sweat-stained, our skins're all soaked with exertions
at tremulous sufferings and passions and joys.

In stasis contained in fetal liquid immersion,
placental – suspended – torpid and poised;
now in vitro, we infant attended natal
as semen, indiscriminate, in aggregate
discharged into the world weary, fledgling and fatal,
doggedly forward, we wayward ejaculate.

Since clouded by idea, blinded by abstraction,
our bodies in mind enmeshed, now paralyzed by
the metaphysic – No conception! only action:
our flesh and our fluids, the motile materialized;
transcendence unneeded, just a new Hippocrates
with humors to drown old suffocating Socrates.

Enjoy! (And let me know what you think, any feedback is appreciated)

Currently listening : And Their Refinement of the Decline By Stars of the Lid Release date: 03 April, 2007

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A poem ...

(An) Admonition

Currently listening : The Four Trees By Caspian Release date: 10 April, 2007

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Future Directions, In Need of Help
Current mood: despondent

Alright, so if anyone's got an idea for how I can radically change my life in the next six months, do share it here.  No matter how crazy it may seem ... I've worked hard to build this life for myself, but it's simply not a life that's working for me at all, nor one worth living.  I need a drastic change, a whole new environment, point of view, etc.; I need a fresh start and I need it soon.  So if you have any ideas, please be so kind as to hazard it to me.  You never know, you might be responsible for the resurrection of Dan.

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Science

Just talked with a good friend this morning about Western science and 'non-traditional' sciences; their contradictions and congruencies.  Many seem to think I'm pro-science (which I am), but not in the traditional sense.  I ally myself in this regard with the great Walt Whitman, who wrote the following in his epic "Song of Myself":

23

Endless unfolding of words of ages!
And mine a word of the modern, the word En-Masse.

A word of the faith that never balks,
Here or henceforward it is all the same to me, I accept Time absolutely.

It alone is without flaw, it alone rounds and completes all,
That mystic baffling wonder alone completes all.

I accept Reality and dare not question it,
Materialism first and last imbuing.

Hurrah for positive science! long live exact demonstration!
Fetch stonecrop mixt with cedar and branches of lilac,
This is the lexicographer, this the chemist, this made a grammar of
the old cartouches,
These mariners put the ship through dangerous unknown seas.
This is the geologist, this works with the scalper, and this is a
mathematician.

Gentlemen, to you the first honors always!
Your facts are useful, and yet they are not my dwelling,
I but enter by them to an area of my dwelling.

Less the reminders of properties told my words,
And more the reminders they of life untold, and of freedom and extrication,
And make short account of neuters and geldings, and favor men and
women fully equipt,
And beat the gong of revolt, and stop with fugitives and them that
plot and conspire.

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Is Deckard a Replicant?

     I've decided, for once and for all, to lay out my central interpretive argument for Blade Runner: specifically, that Deckard is - no, that he must be - a Replicant.  First, of course, there are the obvious evidences: Deckard's dream of the unicorn, his never having been tested by Voigt-Kampf, his glowing eyes, and finally the origami unicorn at the end of the film (amongst other, more subtle suggestions).  Secondly, there exist earlier scripts and Ridley Scott's expressly vocalized intentions that Deckard is meant to be a replicant.  I provide a link to an adequate compilation of these details below:

Currently listening : Frail Words Collapse By As I Lay Dying Release date: 01 July, 2003

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Broadening the options, expanding my horizons

That's what I'm titling my plan for the winterbreak.  For posterity's sake (and so I don't forget, or maybe even get some positive feedback from ya'll) I've decided to describe my four major goals, and progress towards meeting them:

1.  Poker - I hope to be able to use poker to 'work' and provide myself with a source of income during the break and on into the next semester.  I got off to a good start last week, making $250, but got stuck $200 last night (due to two sick beats; AA's got cracked by a two-outer to AK, then top set of 10's to a 5-high diamond flush on the river - yuk).  Still, at least I have a bankroll yet (though only $150 now), and will be looking for it to swell shortly ...  I'll keep you posted.

2.  School - I plan to take my second field experience during wintersession in January, freeing up more time next semester for my other classes ... And inn order to maintain my sanity, I've decided to audit a graduate-level course in postcolonial theory from an excellent professor whom I respect.  Hopefully, this will give me at least two engaging and challenging courses next year.

3.  Other work prospects - I plan to apply for the FBI National Academy, and possibly other law enforcement positions (in Memphis or Las Vegas) as a way to 'hedge my bet' against the rather dim prospects that education is presently affording me. 

4.  Social - Finally, I resolve to seek out opportunities for socializing:  new friends/acquaintances, social gatherings/groups, and dating. 

Hopefully, enacting this plan will enrich my experience with some much-needed other avenues, acting as an antidote to what has recently been largely a life of not insignificant deprivation and frustration.

Currently listening : Radio Swan Is Down By Laura Release date: 26 September, 2006

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A blanket apology ...

To all of you who didn't hear enough from me this semester ... I constantly deprioritized friendly contact in favor of school and mental health.  I feel bad, especially towards those most distant from me.  I hope that the winter break affords us all more opportunities to be with those we care for, and focus on the really important things. 

Currently listening : Your Life Is in Danger By Moly Release date: 01 January, 2002

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My semester (in a nutshell) ...

Here I go, with t-minus 30 minutes and counting until my third final exam.  It's in British Lit, and I'm feeling woefully unprepared .... Although I understand that this is not my fault, as we never received any substantive instruction in the class this semester.  It's an essay exam, so I'm sure I'll do well, but reflecting on my present (and past) feelings throughout this semester this morning has gotten me somewhere. 

The catalyst, I think, was a rousing discussion of another class (the worst I've ever had in my educational career) that ended last night.  After 'sleeping it off' (my frustration, anger, etc.) last night, I awoke this morning to a frenzied kind of feeling:  "What am I going to do about these last two (English essay) exams?  What can I do?"  It took me about three hours to 'get up' (a usual occurrence), and I took the time to write a thank-you note to the only halfway decent (although she's much more than that) professor.  Then, ostensibly in order to prepare for the final that's now t-minus 25 minutes away, I started to read Doris Lessing's short story To Room Nineteen.  A great little story, although I haven't finished it yet; it's chock-full of damning self-reflections and awareness.  Enjoyable yes, but kind of disturbing, too, in that it quite neatly framed my experiences this semester.  I identified with the frustration and constant negotiation with a hostile environment of the protagonist.  It got me thinking, as I began that same process of thought - a raw frustration and discomfort with my upcoming exam, and the 'sensible' little voice at the back of my head telling me it'll be alright, I'm smart, I'll do fine, etc. - about the quality of my semester.

So on my way, walking to campus, it hit me like a bolt of the blue - after months of fighting, this semester has really been characterized by two dynamics:  that of despair, and that of rebellion.  At their best, the former provided me with a certain resignation and perspective on the whole futility of my endeavors, and actually kept me sane in some strange way; the latter provided energy and inspiration (albeit its effect was largely to maintain my present status quo of existence).  At their worst, of course, they were simply despair and rebellion - not a whole lot positive about that. 

So that's my big realization for the day.  At best, I hope that marking it as I've done here will help me prepare for the upcoming exam, and my final one tomorrow.  But in a larger sense, I hope it will provide me with some momentum going into the (very long) winter break ahead.  I believe I'll need it. 

Currently listening : All Is Violent, All Is Bright By God Is an Astronaut Release date: 14 September, 2006

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End of the semester push ...

      Just a quick note to update ya'll on my recent experiences.  In case you haven't noticed, I've been doing better, as usually happens towards the end of the semester.  Here's the general progression for me:  the excitement of the first couple of weeks, followed by disappointment/stress/frustration/depression for the next 6 weeks, then a rock-bottom resignation culminating in a spiritual recover of sorts for about a week, then a couple more weeks of depression, and finally renewed strength and perspective for the last three or four weeks.  I feel I owe it to ya'll who do read my blog to share this, as I realize in looking back on the semester that I've subjected all of you to this turbulent roller-coaster as well.  It's only fair you get a little bit of this perspective, too, otherwise I fear that my high-maintenace existence would just pull all of you down and tire you out.  One crucial ingredient I've neglected in all of this is your continued presence and support.  I appreciate it all, and hope you all get a bit of this midwinter revitalization. 

Currently listening : Raising Your Voice... Trying to Stop an Echo By Hammock Release date: 21 November, 2006

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