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Tuesday, December 31, 2002


-Last post for 2002-

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All that

All that the ant perceives is the nude
descending the staircase:
the concave belly, the bouncing breasts,
the shaven bush

All that the moth perceives is
the last lonely bubble in a limp gin-fizz:
the shared food taste,
the seduction stimulated by whisper

All that the dog perceives is
the flower without smoke, the smiling courtesan:
the masterful perception,
unnoticeable to an average observer

All that the cat perceives is herself
hybrid of freeze and flow, phase changer:
the remains of the banquet
are left in the glow of eloquent chaos

All that the storyteller perceives are
the various stages of undress:
the ashes flushed down the toilet,
the servitude, the trial by experience.

© Walter van Lotringen 2002

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posted by Walter at 12/31/2002



Sunday, December 29, 2002


-Quote-unquote-

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‘The prisoner is closer to humanity than the guard: because he is deprived by the guard’

‘I’ve been desperate to escape for so many years now, it is routine for me to try to escape’

‘When I walk past a window in the corridor (written while having escaped from prison) and happen to see my reflection, I get angry on impulse’

‘Knowledge comes from experience, and books only help to understand experience, the most dangerous prisoners are readers and writers’

‘Books are dangerous when there is injustice’

‘They say Marx lies to us about our condition and makes us immoral and desperate’

‘Society has dropped its guard and places too much trust in government’

‘You must masturbate to the violence in your mind, otherwise you will leave this world berserk’

‘I want consolation more than anything else in this world’

‘Only equals can reach agreement’

‘There are those who suffer from themselves, and those that suffer from others’

‘I have been denied the society of others’

‘In prison, if I were asked the single most consistent cause of mental derangement in prisoners, I can tell you with utmost confidence: injustice’

‘In the American judiciary, anyone who is sent to prison suffers civil death’

‘No prisoner can claim an obligation to other prisoners without declaring war’

‘I would like to suggest that there are men who are justly in prison but don’t belong there’

‘The criminal is either a scapegoat or the merchant of his own soul’

‘The main thing too obvious for me now to overlook is that is it constitutionally impossible for me to exist in prison’

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From: In the Belly of the Beast – Letters from Prison – By Jack Henry Abbott
Vintage Books 1982

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posted by Walter at 12/29/2002