[5715] in Central_America
New quotes for Wed Dec 28
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Central America)
Wed Dec 28 04:00:39 1994
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 1994 04:00:16 -0500
From: Central America <root@charon.MIT.EDU>
To: ca-mtg@charon.MIT.EDU
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ckclark (Calvin Clark):
LIMITS
Of all the streets that blur in to the sunset,
There must be one (which, I am not sure)
That I by now have walked for the last time
Without guessing it, the pawn of that Someone
Who fixes in advance omnipotent laws,
Sets up a secret and unwavering scale
for all the shadows, dreams, and forms
Woven into the texture of this life.
If there is a limit to all things and a measure
And a last time and nothing more and forgetfulness,
Who will tell us to whom in this house
We without knowing it have said farewell?
Through the dawning window night withdraws
And among the stacked books which throw
Irregular shadows on the dim table,
There must be one which I will never read.
There is in the South more than one worn gate,
With its cement urns and planted cactus,
Which is already forbidden to my entry,
Inaccessible, as in a lithograph.
There is a door you have closed forever
And some mirror is expecting you in vain;
To you the crossroads seem wide open,
Yet watching you, four-faced, is a Janus.
There is among all your memories one
Which has now been lost beyond recall.
You will not be seen going down to that fountain
Neither by white sun nor by yellow moon.
You will never recapture what the Persian
Said in his language woven with birds and roses,
When, in the sunset, before the light disperses,
You wish to give words to unforgettable things.
And the steadily flowing Rhone and the lake,
All that vast yesterday over which today I bend?
They will be as lost as Carthage,
Scourged by the Romans with fire and salt.
At dawn I seem to hear the turbulent
Murmur of crowds milling and fading away;
They are all I have been loved by, forgotten by;
Space, time, and Borges now are leaving me.
-Jorge Luis Borges [Translation by Alastair Reid]
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sgw (stephen g. wadlow):
Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling Christmas Eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
And I touched her on the sleeve
She didn't recognize the face at first
Then her eyes flew open wide
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
And we laughed until we cried
We took her groceries to the checkout stand
The food was toteled up and bagged
We went to have ourselves a drink or two
But couldn't find an open bar
We bought a six pack at the liquor store
And we drank it in her car
CHORUS:
We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
We tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how
She said she'd married her an architect
He kept her warm and safe and dry
She'd have liked to said she loved the man
But she didn't like to lie
I said the years had been a friend to her
And that her eyes were still as blue
But I wasn't sure if in those eyes I saw doubt or gratitude
She said she saw me in the record store
And that I must be doing well
I said the audience was heavenly
But the traveling was hell
(chorus)
We drank a toast on innocence
We drank a toast to time
Living in our eloquence
Another auld lang syne
The beer was empty and our tongues were tired
And running out of things to say
She gave a kiss to me as I got out
And I watched her drive away
Just for a moment I was back in school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home
The snow turned into rain
"Same Old Lang Syne"
--Dan Fogelberg
--- End of Central America ---
