On the distraction of the magic lantern
On the Distraction of the Magic Lantern
by Jim Benz
In the midst of space
and banners is a littered waste
that yields more pointing
than parsing–so much has passed
that an account of intervals
(a promise, a perspectiveless
taste) measures meaning (a sacred,
a whole sacred as less whole) and so,
in the midst of lunch and logistics
and yesterday’s paper, and more news
buried, and a belatedly unfurnished
reaction to the blemished
brains of big science
on the back page, there is no
account of the dim wondering
what our position is now.
“Then the sight of you
this morning, in the light, sometimes
the interval …”
I was aghast to find such a gem commentless and so with the delicacy and reserve of a primal barbarian entering Rome’s gates, i will attempt to remove the nightgown of this virgin [perhaps to be slapped and sent back to my Stoneage fishpond lol]:
uh, i don’t know. I would say maybe the poet is reading about science, his hobby, and seeing life objectively and then somehow the subjective finds its way in (like it always does). It’s just a part of our imagination and human curiosity to make connections thruout life’s spectrum to how one thing affects/relates to another…i.e. to find meaning as the poet mentions in line 7. The author is either very left-brained or has exaggerated man’s search for meaning thru science to make a statement on the perhaps outright futility of overrationalization in search of feeling. “In the midst of lunch and logistics” haha! i love that line! But maybe this is also a ‘work poem’ written while performing your occupation and having ‘outside’ thoughts permeate into…your consciousness and work focus
Or this is insightfulness gained from reading the paper:
” and more news
buried, and a belatedly unfurnished
reaction to the blemished
brains of big science
on the back page, there is no
account of the dim wondering
what our position is now.”
*loved that alliteration with ‘b’ words/sound. well-minced like a Wing Chun in-fighting kung fu master.
what i’m getting is: “What does it all matter anyway–what does all this science have to do with life?” …a very relevant thought.
“Then the sight of you
this morning, in the light, sometimes
the interval …†–a loved one enters the picture–the moment has arrived for something sacred–the connection is made–meaning is made. Well done sir. It’s still soaking into my nerf brain–these are just first impressions. I get a lot out of your writings! Thx for sharing!
Words from poem: Parsing: “In computer science and linguistics, parsing, or, more formally, syntactic analysis, is the process of analyzing a text, made of a sequence of tokens (for example, words), to determine its grammatical structure with respect to a given (more or less) formal grammar.” [wikipedia] [yes, there’s no rest for the wicked or the wikipedians].
What a thorough reading – thanks Mofo!