We were young once
I remember
You sang when you brushed your hair
This morning I picked apples alone
But I could hear you singing like you were beside me
And not far away in the world
America is a big prison.
The Los Angeles county jail is the largest psychiatric hospital in the United States.
I am horrified by what my nation has become.
These are my thoughts in the morning.
These are my thoughts in the evening.
In the mezzo giorno I will eat an apple.
In the mezzo giorno I will eat an apple.
Vuonna mezzo giorno syön omenan.
There is a famous Ben Shahn triptych at Syracuse University commemorating the tragedy of Sacco and Vanzetti.
Each day as I walk past it, I think of the poet Kenneth Rexroth who can be seen here reading his famous poem about the fish peddlar and cobbler:
When I was very young
I thought God lives inside the radio
Now I see the radio lives insideGgod
And someone else does all the talking
Kun olin hyvin nuori
Ajattelin Jumala elää sisällä radio
Nyt näen radio elää sisälle Jumalan
Ja joku muu hoitaa kaiken puhumisen
Reset Button
George W Bush ei osannut lukea
Hitler ei voinut syödä
Kennedy piti seksikäs naisia liikaa
Mutta hän osasi lukea ja syödä niin paljon kuin tiedämme
Yleensä on hyvä valita ihmisiä, jotka maistelemaan molemmat sanat ja ruoka
George W Bush couldn't read
Hitler couldn't eat
Kennedy liked sexy women too much
But he could read and eat as far as we know
In general it is good to elect people who savor both words and food
Oh boy!
Koirat senaatissa!
Jokainen saa mehukas luu!
Oh boy!
Dogs in the senate!
Everyone gets a juicy bone!
Se oli parasta aikaa ja se oli pahin
Big Deal, squirt!
Kuka lukee kirjoja nykyään?
It was the best of times and it was the worst of times
Big deal, squirt!
Who reads books nowadays?
Here comes my father
Home from the dead
"Ask more questions," he says, then adds:
"The cosmos is pure curiosity."
Oodi Saarikoski
Vanha mies nyt
Eikö suunnitelma sen
Silti rakastan eläimiä
Lue kiellettyjen kirjojen
Ode to Saarikoski
Old man now
Didn't plan for it
Still love animals
Read forbidden books
Epistemology for Old Academics
One day you are old. Accordingly your scholarship is stuck. The needle of your idea catches in the groove of history. (Young people won’t remember long playing records but imagine a compact disc that repeats itself, some Fleetwood Mac thing they’re playing at K-Mart to keep the shoppers motivated.)
You’re more than stuck, you’re pinched, flayed by books, ensourced, flat–what’s worse, you’re a little “wiggy” as they say in the vernacular. You want to be an administrator.
Alone in your study the books look squat and reproachful.
“Although strength should fail, the effort will deserve praise. In great enterprises the attempt is enough.”
“Damned Propertius!”
Picture him there, raising books over his head, trying to remain strong.
Drink sad preparations: choline with atropine. Buy yourself an abstract chair and read upside down.
“Sublimity is the echo of a great mind.”
Ah, the Longinus recliner!
Planet of the Blind 