I think you're probably right about that last line, Frederick.
I was probably too much under the sway of
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/books/14dumb.html
this article in the NYT last week. It (the line) will be
scrutinized further. Thanks.
Hal
"There is a single tree in Vardø, a rowan
which the residents protect each winter by
building a house around it."
Halvard Johnson
================
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On Feb 17, 2008, at 8:31 AM, Frederick Pollack wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Halvard Johnson" <[log in to unmask]
> >
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 12:59 PM
> Subject: 4 Subprime-Mortgage Sonnets
>
>
>> 4 Subprime-Mortgage Sonnets
>>
>>
>> i.
>>
>> talent for vanishing
>> dance suites
>>
>> repossessed pulque
>> bars, luxury-class
>>
>> rigors of cold
>> climate
>>
>> who's that on tenor?
>>
>>
>>
>> ii.
>>
>> backroom brawls
>> back in the news
>>
>> raunchy endeavors
>> under review
>>
>> local calls at long-
>> distance rates
>>
>> empty before filling
>>
>>
>>
>> iii.
>>
>> away all boats
>> ask me about
>>
>> red houses all
>> in a row
>>
>> tonight's rock
>> concerto
>>
>> cancelled
>>
>>
>>
>> iv.
>>
>> glossy enlargements
>> no extra cost
>>
>> some ice cubes
>> on a blanket
>>
>> your house or
>> mine?
>>
>> Hungry, a country?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Hal
>>
>
>
> I like these a lot. Especially the way urgent questions - they
> could almost be slogans - are slipped in beneath sardonic surface
> meanings. "your house or / mine" - yes, it could be your house, or
> mine, that becomes unsellable, for which the payments suddenly
> explode, that we lose, etc. So many "dance suites" - the
> stakeholder society, irrational exuberance, realtors' and
> politicians promises - have a "talent for vanishing." I feel
> however that the last line is too overtly tendentious. You don't
> need to do that. "your house or / mine?" - preceded by that wet
> blanket or some new indictment - would be a great ending.
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