A Sackful of Sayings No. 11

When the shadows of the moon reveal the corona of the sun, I see the shadow of music relax the subtle textures of silence.

Intersecting shadows create new luminous patterns, psychological rhythms, and ethereal dancers gently flowing into the atmosphere.

Evil, as it denies itself in the disguise of victimhood, reveals itself to the masked deity: it backs away from civilization and morality. Perhaps it is natural and normal in a never-ending ideology of feelings.

In the blink of an eye, the motes pour in.

Make hay while the sun shines, but don't build your castles out of straw.

A stitch in the side cannot set you straight.

Red clouds in the sky, pink spots in your eye.

If you cast your bread upon the waters, the crumbs come back soggy.

A man with a string of past spouses is a wife-beader. 

The early bird makes few friends with the worms.

Incantations, Curses and Sundry Invocations

1.  To be inscribed on the shell of a hardboiled goose egg and then fragmented into tiny pieces, boiled in water, and gently sipped:

PITOCH, Prince of Forgetting, before I forget who you are, come into my mind, and cleanse it of all bad feelings, memories of pain and pressures.  It is far better to purge the soul of rancor and rigidity than to sharpen your anger and plunge it into the back of those you love the best.  Oh, by the way, whoever you are, do that thing I asked you last week--which I cannot recall now--or I will fill you full of pins and grind you into dust.

2.  Upon reaching the age of discretion and realizing the fullness of your ego, when walking on a public street, it is advisable to wrap yourself in a white cloth tied tightly around your middle.  Beware of seeing pigs, dogs, monkeys and public consultants; and if you do, spit three times, pinch your nose, and walk backwards seven paces.  Should you have taken a shower within one hour, return home to wash again.  However, if you meet either a lawyer or a politician, you may avert your eyes and say the following: “I owe you nothing.  I will not pay by the minute.  I refuse to answer polls.”  On the other hand, it is good luck to meet a bicyclist, a man in a clown suit, or a woman pushing twins in a stroller. Upon arriving at your destination, sigh contentedly and remove the swaddling clothes.  You may relax and drink Diet Coke.

3.  Recipe for warding off depression.  Take four deep breaths.  Drink one half litre of purified water.  Turn around three times widdershins.  Knock gently on street lamps to hear if anyone is home.  See if you can find where the wind blows out of trees.  Count the first eight raindrops in a storm.  Sit silently at home without watching television for two whole nights.  Never drink diet beverages.

4.  It is said that a mother’s eyes sparkle when she looks into the face of her new-born infant.  This is because at the fovea centralis, deep in the retina, shaded by the swirl of pupillary dilation, there is a synaptic spark released at precisely the moment the infant smiles.  If possible, one may capture this instant of dyadic communication.  The room should be just light enough to move quietly, so as not to disrupt the intercortical discharge.  It is not possible to reproduce this effect digitally or chemically on a computer.  But everything we are or ever do depends on the memory of having experienced that moment at least once.