“They had been talking about simplicity, quiet, and peace, then “Magnolia” came on with its ever-so-simple music, its ever-so-simple longing; and the song whispered to them the secret of honest naturalness: that as one removes the frills used to prettify life, lowers one’s voice while addressing it, and humbles one’s ego before it, one can […]
Continue reading“Slowly, with careful steps, gathering flowers and smiling as he moved, the Master made his way up the steps. When he reached the man in front of me, he turned from the opposite direction and faced us. He took first the flower of that man and then, as I wedged my way into the front […]
Continue readingI like to write as if I were making love, doing it slowly, taking the time to make every tiniest gesture perfect, caressing the material, savoring the aroma of the words, contentedly stroking each well-smoothed sentence. I like to get lost in timelessness, as one does with a generous lover, to feel the paragraphs kissing […]
Continue reading“For some time now, she had been feeling light and airy, as though she had no body. And then, one day, there arose an irresistible urge to flap her arms, to use them as if they were wings, great wings, the wings of some large, sky-soaring bird. Over the course of a week, at odd moments, whenever […]
Continue reading“Every day I walk this staid circuit around my little town, recognizing shop owners, street signs, and even passing dogs. But today, unbeknownst to me, like the besmudged Cinderella morphed into the belle of the ball, it has been utterly transformed. There is a festival! Children climb rock walls; pretty, young girls in leotards perform […]
Continue reading“The Master was childlike: innocent, spontaneous, and carefree. Profound wisdom flowed from his mouth as an efflux of water pours continuously from an artesian well. He sat in full-lotus position, playfully slapping a red rose against his free palm, as he discussed the purpose and power of meditation to change not only individuals but the […]
Continue reading“Sweet Baby James”: “The rhythm of the chorus evoked a Wild West waltz: a whirl of ladies in satin dresses of dense kingfisher-blue and deep-woods fir, whose abundant hair had been pinned back, whose honest faces and smiles of unparted lips bent upward to their partners. These images arose from the waltzing footsteps of the […]
Continue reading“The most successful covers stimulated a thrill of anticipation whose character matched that of the emotions which their encased music aroused. Skylar’s finger came to the cover of Santana’s Abraxas album. The vividness and sensuality of the music shone gorgeously on this cover: a monumental black goddess with intimidating breasts reclines in space, a white […]
Continue reading“So it pleased Skylar to see fields, trees, bushes, and streams; white-tailed deer and fox squirrels; American crows, red-winged blackbirds, grackles, and song sparrows: with hardly a man in sight. Why was it, he wondered, that human beings and their creations, as much a part of nature as everything else that appeared in the material […]
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