I hold a beast, an angel, and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their subjugation and victory, downthrow and upheaval, and my effort is their self-expression.
Dylan Thomas

three haiku

simply trust,
simply trust!
cherry blossoms in bloom
-Issa, 1807

even in the mist
my house
is a mess
-Issa, 1818

on the high priest's
head...
flies making love
-Issa, 1825

Love is what happens to a man and a woman who don't know each other.
W Somerset Maugham

The Arch
The days of our life are a bridge
Twixt a night and night:

And we look not on eternity
But upon its light

Broken into beauty, by the day
And the life of men,

As the day is broken on the world’s edge
By the falling rain.

William Soutar, from 'A Handful of Earth', 1936

dear friends, apologies for the lack of posts lately. my mother was very ill, and sadly died last week, so blogging has not been high on my list of priorities. more soon ...

Essential Vermeer

Slim: Who was the girl, Steve?
Harry: What girl?
Slim: The one that left you with such a high opinion of women? She must have been quite a gal. You think I lied to you about this don't you? Well it just happens there's thirty-odd dollars here. Not enough for boat fare, or any other kind of fare. Just enough for me to say "No" if I feel like it, and you can have it if you want it... you wouldn't take anything from anybody would you? You know Steve, you're not very hard to figure. Only at times. Sometimes I know exactly what you're going to say. Most of the time. The other times ... the other times you're just a stinker. (she kisses him)
Harry: What'd you do that for?
Slim: Been wondering if I'd like it.
Harry: What's your decision?
Slim: I don't know yet. (she kisses him again)
Slim: It's even better when you help. Uhh... sure you won't change your mind about this? This belongs to me, and so do my lips, I don't see any difference ... OK You know you don't have act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything, and you don't have to do anything. Not with me. Ohh, maybe just whistle. You remember how to whistle don't you? Just put your lips together... and blow.
(she exits. Harry smiles to himself and then whistles)

Bogart and Bacall in 'To Have and To Have Not', from the novel by Ernest Hemingway, directed by Howard Hawks, 1944

If I was rich and carefree I'd be buying a ticket to New York to see this exhibition.

You'll see her eyes flickering with tremulous brightness,
as sunlight often flashes from running water.
Moans and loving murmurs will arise,
and sweet sighs, and playful and fitting words.
But don't desert your mistress by cramming on more sail,
or let her overtake you in your race:
hasten to the goal together: that's the fullness of pleasure,
when man and woman lie there equally spent.
This is the pace you should indulge in, when you're given
time for leisure, and fear does not urge on the secret work.
When delay's not safe, lean usefully on the oar,
and plunge your spur into the galloping horse.
While strength and years allow, sustain the work:
bent age comes soon enough on silent feet.
Plough the earth with the blade, the sea with oars,
take a cruel weapon in your warring hands,
or spend your body, and strength, and time, on girls:
this is warlike service too, this too earns plenty.

Ovid, from 'The Art of Love'

Solitude is to the soul as food is to the body.
Seneca

"Chapter One. He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion." Uh, no, make that: "He-he...romanticized it all out of proportion. Now...to him...no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin." Ahhh, now let me start this over. "Chapter One. He was too romantic about Manhattan as he was about everything else. He thrived on the hustle...bustle of the crowds and the traffic. To him, New York meant beautiful women and street-smart guys who seemed to know all the angles." Nah, no...corny, too corny...for...my taste... I mean, let me try and make it more profound. "Chapter One. He adored New York City. To him, it was a metaphor for the decay of the contemporary culture. The same lack of individual integrity to cause so many people to take the easy way out...was rapidly turning the town of his dreams in--" No, it's gonna be too preachy. I me and, you know...let's face it, I wanna sell some books here. "Chapter One. He adored New York City, although to him, it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture. How hard it was to exist in a society desensitized by drugs, loud music, television, crime, garbage." Too angry. I don't wanna be angry. "Chapter One. He was as...tough and romantic as the city he loved. Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat." I love this. "New York was his town. And it always would be."

Woody Allen as Ike, from 'Manhattan' (his best film), 1979

Harold (smoking a hookah): I sure am picking up on vices.
Maude: Vice, virtue. It's best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then you're bound to live it fully.
from Harold and Maude, 1971