The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje

"I promised to tell you how one falls in love."

The rest is history. Simply one of the most intoxicating, haunting, and beautiful romance novels ever to have been written. Its poetic grace lifts off the pages and drowns the heart in nostalgic torture. And a very timely read for me, personally. Falling in love is never easy. The Cave of Swimmers is one of greatest chapters I've ever read. The end of it poses one of my newest favorite quotes: 

"We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as caves. I wish for all this to be marked on my body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography- to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings."

There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America, Philip Dray

There’s a rumbling storm crawling up the spine of American history. Here there be details that politicians, Wall Street bigwigs, and textbook writers on propaganda commission don’t want you to know about. It is history seen from the eyes of the middleman, the lower class, and all the fighters for economic reform that have been stifled by the armor of militant suppression. The history of America is coated with the blood of its builders, not by the rhetoric of elitist figureheads that occupy the White House. A great and bloody civil war has been going on for decades, a subtle one. You’d be surprised how often union strikes and civil rights protests ended in violence (provoked by authorities, not peaceful demonstrators). The whole story of labor in America is here baby; this knowledge is bonafide classified, at least in history classes.

Unions were originally effective in organizing workers’ rights, whether they be about wage, safety, child labor, or hours-per-week issues. The amount of violence that these civilians had to withstand to obtain these rights over the years is staggering. As the unions evolved and gained more influence they were loosely connected with Communism after the Red Scare of 1919. It was mind-blowing to read about how J. Edgar Hoover unconstitutionally ordered the deportation of thousands of suspected communists (many of whom were influential union leaders that didn’t even identify with the ideology). During the Great Depression many of the workers’ rights we know and love today came into effect thanks to FDR’s New Deal and other Supreme Court rulings.  All the struggles of the past were finally worth something.

One of the more disturbing facts about unions is that, as they grew in strength and merged, their political affiliations became more corrupt. I was shocked to learn that the largest union in the nation’s history, AFL-CIO, backed the Viet Nam war and its members were highly influential as the “silent majority” for keeping the war going. Well, every rose has its thorn.

In addition to outlining the epic history of labor vs. capital, the book’s concluding thesis offers that the future of union organization can only depend on transnational compliance. I’d have to agree, because it doesn’t matter how many rights are won. Corporations always sell out to the cheapest bidder, and the world will always have a new one unless the power to strike is not universal.

How Exercise Benefits Children

A couple days ago I was talking to someone about the benefits of exercise and it occurred to me that perhaps the apparent diminishment of education, motivation, and the rise of ADD in the United States can mostly be blamed on the worsening trend in children getting exercise.  Well, I wouldn't call it exercise per se, but simply having physical fun, like climbing monkey bars, riding bikes, and throwing pine cones at your brother.  These were things that kids used to do every day, not even so long ago as the 1990's. Lo and behold,, researchers have found a link between lack of exercise and a decline in mental abilities among children.  Could it be that the decline of American intelligence is principally caused by lethargy (don't blame television or computers, they are just mediums), and will this "virus" of laziness spread across the planet, infiltrating all countries, gorging new economies that only lend interest to a parasitic lifestyle of consumerism? 

Exercise in young children improves their memory, helps them focus at school, and makes it less likely for children to develop a mental illness later on in life.  It's actually pretty obvious how this is true.  The hormone that is released during exercise is called endorphin, and this why a lot of people who exercise will tell you that they are "high on life".  Natural endorphins are better for you than any drug on the black market, I guarantee it.  It's a natural high, not the kind you get by tokin' it up with your homies.  Every time I exercise I feel like I can retain information or express myself better.  Not to mention it improves self-esteem, confidence, and increases awareness.

I was telling this woman about how it was only in the late 90's that my friends and I would play our favorite sports out in the streets of the neighborhood.  Ever since then I have not seen one group kids out there doing the same things we did, and it's a bit frightening.  Apparently we were the last generation that enjoyed good old fashioned reality-fun, not the kind you have pretending you're a demon slayer while drinking red bull on the sofa.  Nope, we liked to get down and dirty.  Even then there was a lot of virtual entertainment, so I can only imagine how often the kids played outside back in the 1950's.  Please parents, take your children to the playground and don't coop them up in your home all day.  Not only will they have more appreciation for nature, but there's a subtlety to the way natural fun inspires people to become deeper, kinder people who care about others, and to the way they realize who they really want to be.  There's no art in virtual entertainment; there's only art where the heart is free to explore its environment. 

I Let You Go

    Hey Little Chibi standing on a hill with the sunset behind you and the wind ruffling your skirts, I let my mind wander through the fantasies of the future and the distant memories of lives once passed.  Sacred nights spent in blissful anticipation watching your glorious aura that illuminated the bakery whenever you saw my face, your eyes shining like newborn oysters on a prismatic beach, hearing your laugh and watching your face ignite with joy, I made you laugh, yes, I made you laugh.  Touch my body, caress my chest and let your hands follow the happy trail that gave me such intimate delight, but it’s gone now, all gone; you took it away from me and left me here all alone for all the summer which I should have been spending with someone who’s in love with me but can’t now that the smite of fear hath rendered thee immobile.  But I can’t dwell, I must move on and get over your anciently crafted face in the unbelievably green park of happy people that watched us holding hands in newfound love, short lived yet strong enough to last through lifetimes.  How could you let it happen, how could you find yourself unworthy of such health and happiness, what has happened in your past to trick yourself into thinking I never loved you?  What awful illusion has been painted over your eyes to see anger where there is passion and indifference where there is tremendous care?  I wished to lift you from the clutches of molten lust that melted our skin into one another’s and set you free yes like a bird I let you go and see the stars the Auroras the Milky Way, that silver brick road in the sky dazzling in the bounteous cavern of the universe.  Let it go, no please no, it couldn’t have been, you can satisfy me just have courage and patience and take it slow because I’m afraid too, yes, I’m so afraid but I still have the strength to face the crash of love’s thunder.  Now with a deep breath I blow out the candles that alighted your face on the divine platforms of holy sand and stormy hope I let you go and fly away fluttering and trusting the next eagle that cometh along swooping on the seas where your life goes I let it go yes I let the rain wash away your memory and the summer’s warmth to dry your tears I let you go like the beautifully flawed bird that you are I sing I weep I set you free to fly across the hills where your life goes yes I will I let you go…

The Most Famous Poems of All Time

I was surfing around the Internet and noticed that there aren't very many definitive lists of the most famous poems of all time.  That’s surprising because poetry’s been around forever. Each poem here was ranked using the following criteria: cumulative view counts on Youtube, what their influence has been, and how well-studied they are in the academic community.  Epic poetry and the plays of Shakespeare have been excluded, although I do feel that many of their passages challenge the best of these.

1. "The Raven" read by Christopher Walken; could anything possibly be more creepy?  Our number one poem is unique because it is by far the favorite among the masses, yet it still has originality and complexity.  A lot of the poems that get the most views on Youtube are short and simple, but for whatever reason people have clung to this one the most.  I personally feel that The Raven is so popular today because we are in a time of cultural madness, and people need the madness of others to find solace.  Christopher Walken's unique locution certainly adds flavor to that. 

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3. 2. Song Of Songs, Anonymous (Old Testament) 

 

Throughout history you’d think that the Song of Songs has deserved the title of Greatest Love Poem of All Time.  But for a long time there was a debate in the Church about whether or not it was even about love. The debate focused on whether or not the Song of Songs is meant to be taken literally or metaphorically.  I don’t claim to be a Christian (though I believe in God), but to me it clearly describes two people in an harmonious marriage, not a metaphorical relationship with God, though people who feel that way are entitled to. 

It’s the only passage in The Bible that I read regularly, and it melts my heart every time.  It’s beautiful, indulgent, and lusty: a risky combination that leaves many people scratching their heads as to how it could even be in The Bible.  But it is, so the chaste fundamentalists will just have to deal with it.  I think the point of leaving it in was not only to show us the importance of love, but to show us how the divinity of marriage can make us all feel holy and complete. 
 
3. The Waste Land, TS Eliot.   

 

Arguably the greatest poem of the 20th century, "The Waste Land" came out at a time in which two pivotal periods changed the direction of history: World War 1 and the modernist movement in art.  It describes that ominous no-man’s land between the wars, when people were frightened of technological possibilities yet optimistic about progress.  That’s what Eliot seems to think anyway.  Like Joyce’s "Ulysses", the fame of "The Waste Land" has been relegated to the academic community.  Few common readers would find it enjoyable (much less understandable) without a companion guide.  For those interested you can watch the lecture below, in which a skilled professor breaks down the poem and each of its constituent parts.  My favorite parts are The Chess Game and What The Thunder Said. 

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxF9xkB5o04 
 
4. Sonnet 18, Shakespeare. 

 

Better known as "Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?"

 
5. Howl, Allen Ginsberg 

 

I saw the greatest minds of my generation love this poem, fifty years after the fact.  Howl was a response to the steamrolling consumerism that propelled America into an economic superpower in the 1950s.  Its influence extends from beat poetry all the way to the modern generation of indie hipsters.  Each subsequent generation of underground writers after ours will also feel its power, as the complexity of our species evolves and the traditional forms of our arts dissolve into one another. 

To enjoy "Howl" you must read it without expectations, and read it fast.  Fans of Howl are generally non-academic free thinkers: those who aren’t limited by tradition. 

People like to blame the beat generation for the deterioration of quality poetry.  But if you think about it, poetry has actually gotten stronger because a lot of it has simply been translated into popular music. The current generation of poets are filled with some of the best songwriters in the world, including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Thom Yorke. 

 
6. Desiderata, Max Ehrmann 

 

"Desiderata" is one of the most morally empowering anthems ever to hit the page.  It’s one of those poems that everyone should wake up and recite daily.  Some of its fans do it already. 

 

More famous poems: 

7. If, Rudyard Kipling 
8. Song of Myself, Walt Whitman 
9. Invictus, William Ernest Henley 
10. Daffodils (I Wandered As A Lonely Cloud), William Wordsworth 
11. Still I Rise, Maya Angelou 
12. Bluebird, Charles Bukowski 
13. The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost 
14. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas 
15. In Memoriam AHH, Lord Alfred Tennyson 
16. Annabel Lee, Edgar Allan Poe 
17. I Carry Your Heart, EE Cummings 
18. Daddy, Sylvia Plath 
19. If You Forget Me, Pablo Neruda 
20. O Captain! My Captain, Walt Whitman 
21. An Essay On Criticism, Alexander Pope 
22. The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats 
23. How Do I Love Thee?, Elizabeth Barrett Browning 
24. Dulce et Decorum Est, Wilfred Owen 
25. Ode to a Nightingale, John Keats 
26. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, Robert Frost 
27. The Song of Hiawatha, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 
28. The Hollow Men, TS Eliot 
29. Bright Star, John Keats 
30. When You Are Old, William Butler Yeats 
31. The Charge of the Light Brigade, Lord Alfred Tennyson