Date:         Thu, 27 Nov 1997 12:40:06 EST
From: tanks for the memoires! <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
Subject:      EXERCISE: What if... (was: Re: sub:  poem:  Assisted Living)

[something to think about while digesting?]

On Wed, 08 Oct 1997 00:33:10 EDT, "Peter C. Davis" <Peterzen@AOL.COM> wrote
:) One moment he seems firmly anchored in the now, the next he's
:) talking about a trip he took a few days ago to meet with his brother,
:) John (dead 35 years).

What if...it is we who are "anchored" in our sequential nightmare, and
they have unlocked the true secret of time travel?

I.e., when they talk about the trip they took a few days ago, they ARE
accurately reporting their experiences, they have indeed timespliced
and repeated that part of time/space... it is we who are tied to the
sequentially unfolding "now" and lack the ability to surf our lives?

Perhaps we could learn?

Think about that.  Let the idea of slip-sliding through a life, cut
loose from that tedious sequentiality which we often assert is the
"REAL" mode of living--let that idea twist and turn, engaging your
mind...and emotions.

[what metaphora blossom in that strange jungle?  did you hear the
simile run, or slither slowly away?  under the spreading hyperbole,
what personification swings a hammer, ringing, singing, pinging?  is
there a synecdoche towering on a grain of sand?  does the metonymy
quietly tick, tick, tick in place of the clock?  can you see the
tropes growing?]

Then write us the (poem/story/essay/words!) that shows us and blows us
into that greater living!  Lazing on the gentle waves, screaming
through the crests and riptides, rocking in the chop...cruising the
days and nights of our lives, a star to guide us, a tall sail and a
hearty wind...

(the use of flashbacks in the mausoleum of memories is definitely
permitted...even encouraged!)

tink

(oh, and while you are at it, consider a drabble for the contest.  100
words, emote or vise, write quick because the deadline is sooner today
than yesterday.  of course, if you learn to timeslip...more details at
http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/drabble/drabble.html )

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