LOST
HIGHWAY OF LOST JEWISH COWBOYS
In his face there came to be a brooding peace that is seen
most often in the faces of the very sorrowful or the very wise.
(Carson McCullers 23 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter)
Or both I have seen this expression though one may think that
brooding +peace are opposites For some peace is not possible +
brooding a constant Quietly suffering unfulfilled juxtapositions
Dreams embalmed
My father’s face when listening to music Lost in bop honk of Jaquet
or screech of Grappelli’s strings I have this kind of face too The kind that
brings complete strangers close suggesting: smiles +other inanities: You have
the face of a writer! You are a dead ringer for Greta Scattchi! which mostly
leads to blithering
One day at the A.G.O. not long ago I took in a photo exhibit Jews dying of hunger
on the streets Dead bodies rigoured in wheelbarrows Perhaps then brooding
comes naturally to Jews I’m sure you’ve heard of Jewish angst A version of the
blues So my father’s brooding was perhaps one half diaspora guilt? Not likely
Though he would have made an excellent Mossad agent: handsome wily +fearless
Especially when called kike backstreets London Ontario More likely a brooding man
in suburbia Wife + 4 kids Almost jumping on Tex his horse (yes he had a horse)
and running for the hills Some people are just not made for their times
There were no rodeos in the ghetto Jazzcats a rarity too Brooding man facing west
Setting sun in living room leaves him in a white undershirt in the dark quite frequently
Plunging Ace lost in football reverie Sorrowful But wise on the ascendency
__
He had a special feeling for sick people and cripples. Listen, he said. The trouble with
you is that you don’t have any real kindness. Not but one woman I’ve ever known had
this real kindness I’m talking about.
(Carson McCullers The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter 1940)
Jewish New Year 2017 a.k.a. 5778
songanddancegirl 