the Doorway: his concern with progress, a practical
concern, a self-study reports concern: say what I am
doing to make my courses better and better, how
I plan to meet the objections of students in my last
encounters —topping previous successes & failures
with new successes & failures so that things are getting
better, they’re getting better all of the time.
his rock BUT with the knowledge that he makes
no progress—other then always more of the same:
up the hill, over the hill, down the hill, up the hill
again,& may we presume that his no-progress-report
knowledge liberates—a liberal art. Seemingly
meaningless & repetitious, sure: but a struggle
nevertheless & no surprises. ,
Now: may we do justice to both the man in the
doorway and the man rolling the rock. And let
neither be ridiculed nor idolized: neither suit nor
loincloth, clipboard nor rock-of-ages, savvy post-
modernist with bic-pen & primitive fundamentalist
witha commitment to stay the course, rolling stone.
2 Economies, as Gary Hawkins might say.
May we polarize and turn them way up—
the opposition, the clash of values?
Taking care of Business on the
one hand—nitty-gritty devils
in the details. Cultivating
an Over All steadfast
frame of Mind in the
face of seeming
absurdity on
the other.
And wonder how well they would get along if
Sisyphus weren’t so clearly subordinate —
bound to come up with something to satisfy
the Annual Report. Show Progress where
there is none so as to comply: making virtue
out of a revolving wheel to satisfy a need
to be accredited.. Complicit.
Look: I’m rolling this rock, see.
Committed.
Although a lying, cheating, bastard who saw
himself smarter than Zeus: this rock & roller
accepted the punishment of the gods. And
"one must imagine Sisyphus happy" says
Albert Camus: "The struggle itself towards
the heights is enough to fill a man's heart."
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