“There was nothing there and everything. There were no words of love and no words for love. There were no words. He was in his and she was in hers. And hers was everything when hers was in his. But his was nothing when his was in hers.”
“Starry starry night”
“Blurtso considers his inner parakeet” (XV)
And they said, “Speak to us of rest.”
And Blurtso replied,
“The wave travels many miles, then breaks to pieces.”
“Kathy’s Song”
“Roman Clair” (VII)
“Because he had to do what he had to do, he couldn’t see what he wanted to see, and he couldn’t see what he wanted to see because he had to see what he had to see. But she could see what she wanted to see, when she wasn’t doing what she had to do, and he was seeing what he wanted to see.”
“Bonny and Pablo hit the hay” (V)
It’s raining on the roof, thought Pablo. The last snow is melting and the earth is beginning to open. Soon the breeze will be warm and the smells will be sweet. It was a long winter, but the cabin was cozy with Bonny and Ditto and a cellar of food. And the crackling fire. What a pleasant place to be, on the edge of spring in the rain, in the warmth of our cabin.
“Blurtso considers his inner parakeet” (XIV)
And they said, “Speak to us of beauty.”
And Blurtso replied,
“The horizon is red, and night is falling.”
“Blurtso hears a harbinger”
The sounds are changing, thought Blurtso. People are coming out of their houses and lingering beneath the softening sky. The animals are poking their noses in snowless corners and the tulips will soon be up. Some say one tulip is like another—red, pink, yellow, blue—but I can taste the difference.
“Blurtso comes and goes”
The pattern persists,
while the parts come and go.
“Blurtso considers his inner parakeet” (XIII)
And they gathered before him and said, “Free us.”
And Blurtso replied, “You are free.”
And they remained where they were, freely.