I loved it, just the first time through, and look forward to coming back to your essay. This way you have of making the point and then inserting one of your poems is very effective for me, and when I reread I see more in the point and in the poem. I have been immersed in books about men who go into the wilderness, hermits of various kinds. One thing common to stories about or by them is that the gesture of climbing the mountain, or walking deep into the woods, removes what I'll call the cultural glasses, not just preconceptions but pre-experiences, so to speak, that filter what they see. When, once in a while, I get to a dark place, a spot where indirect light does not fade the sky, I am thrilled at what I see. And I am thrilled too by amazing pictures from cameras shooting through space. I take your post as a reminder that I can ditch the cultural glasses even when I am sitting in my office or living room. I don't have to see things the way I habitually see them. I've been trained in ways to see things. Pretty soon, as you say, what stands out is the habit, not the object of the gaze, the apparatus, not the thing seen. Thanks for the reminder to look for myself--in two senses, too.
Skimmed this yesterday, but still want to give it a proper reading when I get a chance... Great to read poetry and philosophy together!
Indeed. A wee experiment. Hoping to push this further.
I loved it, just the first time through, and look forward to coming back to your essay. This way you have of making the point and then inserting one of your poems is very effective for me, and when I reread I see more in the point and in the poem. I have been immersed in books about men who go into the wilderness, hermits of various kinds. One thing common to stories about or by them is that the gesture of climbing the mountain, or walking deep into the woods, removes what I'll call the cultural glasses, not just preconceptions but pre-experiences, so to speak, that filter what they see. When, once in a while, I get to a dark place, a spot where indirect light does not fade the sky, I am thrilled at what I see. And I am thrilled too by amazing pictures from cameras shooting through space. I take your post as a reminder that I can ditch the cultural glasses even when I am sitting in my office or living room. I don't have to see things the way I habitually see them. I've been trained in ways to see things. Pretty soon, as you say, what stands out is the habit, not the object of the gaze, the apparatus, not the thing seen. Thanks for the reminder to look for myself--in two senses, too.
Thanks for the feedback, Allen. Happy to hear that this approach was effective for you.