Presbyterianism (old dog barking at both ends)

Minute Particulars

Dear Colleagues,


This is the beast I throw rice at
to make Dance dance: dancing
a light fantastic. It don’t so far
budge an inch nor by a long shot
twitch a tail, twist an ear. Tweak.

“A standard caution forbids
teaching Kabala to anyone
under forty.

Recently, an Ashkenazi
Orthodox immigrant to
Guatemala addressed his
adult, secular American
grandson:

‘If you want to learn
Kabala, lock yourself
in a room with the Zohar
and a pound of cocaine.’”

This astounded the grand-
son and infuriated his father,
the old immigrant’s son.”

(Annie Dillard, For the Time Being)

Narcotics can not still the tooth that
bites the soul, says Emily D. Ritalin
me now: Prozac & Xanax, a stately
pleasure dome decree: we’ve come
a long way maybe, to prove Emily
wrong.

Tell ALL the truth, she says, but tell
it slant: success in circus lies: preach
a proper para-noetic schizophrenia
& invite all multiple personalities to
cross border lines inviting sweet patho-
logical passion & patience & that state
of mind, heart & soul mothering mothers
of invention & always running scared
naturally torn between 2 lovers & the
many facets of Eve.

I too easily resent the leather rationality
cloaking colleagues, candidates, comfort
seekers, river walkers & husky patrons of
Ryan’s Steakhouse & Buffet, beer-taster
Tony Kiss & his tidy differential equations
among hops & barley distributors when I
can’t get the riveting attention efficiency
my ongoing original spin so much deserves,
damnit. It gnaws me, bites the tooth of the
soul.


I found out “Israel” means God Wrestler and
now the professionals make good sense to me:
Isra-el-ic my wretched wrenching, wrangling,
wrinkling, writhing gapes of wrath: rug rat
wrecking furniture, spilling magazines,
pictures off the wall. I get it!

ooo, oops, huh? ouch, umm, ahhhh
holding on to what I got & can’t
quit till blessed or blasted either
way damaged & damaging:
“Uncle,” I say. “Uncle!”
It cracks me up.

“You can live as a particle crashing about
and colliding in a welter of materials with
God, or you can live as a particle crashing
about and colliding in a welter of materials
without God. But you can not live outside
the welter of colliding materials.” (A.D.)

Presbyter presbyterianizing presbyterianism presbyterily .