A couple walks together bumping hips And touching hands. They have been At it face to face, side to side and back To front, eating, sleeping, scheming. He gestures with his neck and she declines To take him in her hand. They breathe In unison. The bugs that colonize their guts Are cousins now. [...]
This passage is from Theodor Fontane’s Effi Briest. The novel is a Prussian novel of adultery. It was one of Thomas Mann’s favorites (there is a minor character towards the end by the name of Buddenbrooks) and was one of the few realistic novels in German before Mann wrote. The characters are of the Prussian [...]
The chef rose through the dining room like dough, handing out blinis and gold caviar, kissing and bellowing his way towards us. She called him Andre. I began to realize everyone was drunk. Every waiter, busboy, captain, food runner, sous chef, dish washer, expediter, cashier, coat check, bar back and porter was three sheets to [...]
Barzakh is a term I picked up from Henry Corbin, in his writing about Iranian mysticism. Barzakh is the Interzone, or Interworld, the place midway between our world and the eternal world. It is beneath the Throne of Heaven. There is always a Barazakh, but where people situate it changes over time. Sometimes it is ‘out [...]
This line by Tom Verlaine has been running through my head all morning. Here’s the rest of the line: My eyes are like telescopes I see it all backwards: but who wants hope? If I ever catch that ventriloquist I’ll squeeze his head right into my fist. Then all sorts of other random Television lines [...]
Specimen Tank
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