Raymond Soulard, Jr. 27 Come Away, O Human Child [New Fiction] by G.C
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From Soulard’s Notebooks Assistant Editor: Kassandra Soulard Letter by Jim Burke III 1 Poetry by Joe Ciccone 3 World’s Window: Ruminations Entheonautic and Otherwise [Journal] by Christopher Patrick Gose 7 Many Musics [Poetry] by Raymond Soulard, Jr. 27 Come Away, O Human Child [New Fiction] by G.C. Dillon 45 Poetry by Galway Kinnell 49 Notes from the Northwest [Commentary] by Raymond Soulard, Jr. 59 Poetry by Judih Haggai 61 F is for Flutter [Essay] by Ralph H. Emerson 69 Why? [A New Fixtion] by Raymond Soulard, Jr. 73 Notes on Contributors 107 2009 Front and back cover art by Raymond Soulard, Jr. & Kassandra Soulard. Original Cenacle logo by Barbara Brannon. Interior art by Raymond Soulard, Jr. & Kassandra Soulard, except where indicated. Accompanying disk to print version contains: • Cenacles #47-69 • Burning Man Books #1-60 • Scriptor Press Samplers #1-10 • RaiBooks #1-6 • RS Mixes from “Within’s Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution”; & • Jellicle Literary Guild Highlights: 11/22/2008, & 12/20/2008 meetings Disk contents downloadable at: http://scriptorpress.yage.net/cenacle_supplementary_disk.zip The Cenacle is published quarterly (with occasional special issues) by Scriptor Press, 2442 NW Market Street, #363, Seattle, Washington, 98107. It is kin organ to ElectroLounge website (http://www.scriptorpress.com), RaiBooks, Burning Man Books, Scriptor Press Sampler, The Jellicle Literary Guild, & “Within’s Within: Scenes from the Psychedelic Revolution w/ Soulard,” broadcast online worldwide weekends on SpiritPlants Radio (http://spfradio.yage. net). All rights of works published herein belong exclusively to the creator of the work. Email comments to: [email protected] Thanks to KT and PE for being decent Joes to work alongside . thank you to President Obama for continuing to shepard a sprawling, bickering nation out of its worst days . thank you to the SpiritPlants Radio community for helping build such a great station, and for the kinds of energy and enthusiasm that fires through The Cenacle and the other Scriptor Press projects . and thank you to the better makers of ice cream everywhere without which this issue would not have been as much fun to make . 1 Jim Burke III Editor’s Note: The following is the twenty-eighth in an ongoing series derived from the correspondence between Jim Burke III and myself, begun in 1992, and in the spirit of the more enthused letter-writing tradition of yesteryear. June 2, 2009 MDC Reservoir West Hartford, Connecticut Dear Ray, I meant to begin this letter last week, but the idea of truth as put forth in your letter1, and the present state of our culture’s ideas of truth, made the writing of it perplexing to say the least. The theme of your letter seemed to display a level of despair on how we can perceive the truth—the absolute gut-wrenching, soul-twisting truth—during our limited stay in physical form on this planet (at least this time around!). I have only recently come to the conclusion that there are different levels of truth perceived by different people, depending on each individual’s relative view of our cultural transparency. This view, or subjective opinion, related directly to individual intellect, can range from very narrow—almost down to the non-existent—to a wide spectrum of analytical and philosophical thought. The truth, ultimately, is a venue to realize self-actualization, whether it be by the pursuit of art, love, peace, or a number of absolutes in their highest form. The one characteristic that all these have in common is a resolution of what I refer to as “truth intensity.” Most sociologists will agree that our consciousness of our surroundings is what distinguishes the human race from most other life forms on this planet. The term “social animals”2 was coined decades ago to describe this. However, this is where the definition ends. The degree to which we (you and I specifically, Ray) resolve the conflict between truth and transparency can help us realize that the former depends on the latter. In other words, when the truth demands that Bush, Cheney, Rove, Gonzales (among others) be indicted and tried for various crimes, the transparency of our culture becomes self-evident. Unfortunately, the majority of our culture wants to hide the obvious truth from the rest of the world. I know that, just as it has taken decades to reveal enough of the truth about John Kennedy’s assassination (or coup d’état), so it may be a lifetime before all the truth comes out regarding the worst presidential administration in the history of this country. The absolute truth might be a new beginning for this country and our culture, or it might shatter the transparency to the point where people would become apathetic to the point of utter complacency (this is what the elitist Republican Right would love anyway, a complacent robot-like society, paying $5 a gallon for gas, and forever—perhaps “truth intensity” is a compromise after all!!). Which would be worse? Nobody can know until, and unless, it happens. I prefer to think that this is the kind 1 Letter to Jim Burke III, 3/2/2009, “Notes from the Northwest,” Cenacle | 68 | April 2009. 2 Elliot Aronson, The Social Animal, 1972. The Cenacle | 69 | June 2009 2 of “truth intensity” that would shake up this country once and for all. I prefer to think that it has already happened, at least to some degree. I agree that Obama could be the answer to the nation’s hopes and dreams, and a beginning to what could be and might be (i.e., no war, universal education and healthcare and, most of all, opportunity). However, I caution myself that the atrocities of the Vietnam War didn’t accomplish this, even after the assassinations of the Kennedys, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and others. It took a vile “leader” named Bush to set in motion an historic election by his mistakes in Iraq, including torture, greed, lying to Congress, and betraying the United States Constitution as a whole. The people of this country, the majority at least, decided that Bush and his evil-doers had embarrassed them enough. The “truth intensity” got Bush elected, and then conversely got him fired. But that’s as far as it will go. The politicians do not want the world to see a former administration’s sins exposed to the world—I’m not sure I do either, although I certainly believe he should be punished, plead guilty, and exiled to Elba a la Napoleon! I have to admit I went the complacency route before. I decided to go back to school (check), get a couple of degrees (check), get married and have a family (check, check), have a good job (check), and now . My point is I went that way before I paid my dues with the blues. I would be ready for anything that an investigation of Bush and his cronies revealed, but the American people would not. The idea of him admitting (Cheney has done so already, of course) that he approved of torture would divide the “truth intensity” of this population for a long, long time. These kind of revelations have a reverse effect of people’s notions of the absolute truth. Validity is attached to facts only if the intellect permits. A lot of people, even though many voted for Obama, do not want to know the truth, especially by way of revelation. I believe this is the type of cultural hypnosis that must be broken. It may occur in my lifetime, it may not. As you stated, there is hope on the horizon and the worse recession in our history will bottom out in another year. (On a personal note, the only event I hope to be still alive to witness is a man on the planet Mars.) So if you can’t get by on art alone, don’t worry, be happy, and remember—you, I, and people who maintain a better vision will enjoy life for what it brings us. Being out of work sucks but you will find something and, just maybe Bush, Cheney, Rove, Gonzales, et. al. will be hung out to dry like my dirty, smelly socks! P.S. And remember, if all else fails, and the world’s got you by the balls, we will all become stars when we “die.” The Cenacle | 69 | June 2009 3 Joe Ciccone Where’s the OFF switch? The last time we closed our eyes We were young. The night was wide; we met in a dream resembling Volterra. In the meantime, time began, Everyone died, and something pulled us By our belt-loops through a hall of doors, Closing, one by one, behind us. You and me, the rough-riders, approximate folk singers, High-stepping it through the darkness, I say to you, “Kiss me,” but you’re up ahead Holding up the world. You call back, “Pick out a star,” But they’re moving too fast across the sky. ****** The Cenacle | 69 | June 2009 4 On the Banks of Lake Ontario We watch as a boat falls off the horizon. For a moment we stop planning how to get a piece of it; And suddenly it’s all ours. ****** Love That which compels water to water; An ocean that cannot be swept away. ****** Dream Sequence First, my friend the endless conversationalist. Next, a line of goons heading toward the carnival. Suddenly the first birds gathering for departure. At some point, a charred pier leaning into the green tide. The ghost of New Jersey howling. Lastly, a monologue about how tomorrow I will be young again.