A classic WORK today…one of the first poems I memorized and recite to myself like a mantra. The unanswered—and unanswerable—questions still fascinate me.

And a WORD that is ripe for (secular) rehabilitation, describing so well where I find myself in creative life and career.

WORK

“The Tyger”

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears
And water’d heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

—William Blake
—from Collected Poems

WORD(S)

gyrovague. noun. A wandering monk; a cleric with no fixed home; a vagabond; a wanderer. From Latin: gȳrus (circuit) + vagus (wandering).

“The Gyrovagues, or Vagabonds, who strolled about from one monastery to another, gratifying too freely their inclinations and appetites.” (Alexander Rankin)

“A gyrovagues hunger is as unrestrained as the unruly ascetic’s peripatetic body.” (Lynda Coon)

WEB

1. H. Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman have a store. “Flotsam offers three sacs of hand-chosen items that are hand-hewn by machines in America and are shipped directly to you. What you receive depends on what we choose for you in the moment. In this way, a symbiotic chain is created between producer and consumer. Our mission is to always build on that chain, until that chain enwraps all of us and we are thusly bound together, chained.”

2. David Mitchell on How to Write: “Neglect Everything Else”.

3. “The story of Manischewitz is as intriguing as the wine isn’t: stolen identity, price-fixing, a foursome, and even some deep space intrigue. And then, of course, there was that ”Mad Men“ cameo.”

4. Where Children Sleep. A photo series.

5. Today in 2003, the tiger tried to eat Roy (of Siegfried and Roy). Or so it seemed in the minds of terrified onlookers. In fact, during the performance Montecore (the tiger) was distracted by a woman’s “large hairdo” and after placing himself in the tiger’s line of sight and trying to stay between them, Roy tripped and fell, causing a ruckus, during which Montecore attempted to carry Roy to safety, inadvertently causing severe injuries.

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

• None today. Sad face.

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