Jonathan Gitelson, “Marginalia”
Trying to sum up the year? It’s like grabbing onto an octopus. The head is small and inaccessible. Although you may latch onto an arm, it will be slip from your grasp, in its own clever way of resisting and fighting back.
What was 2015 all about? You will not have forgotten the Paris attacks, the sense of dread, of war declared – by armed and hooded youth on their own generation, now sliced very differently.
And yet, in the spirit of “resist,” of elevating life above base fear, you remember the taste of that Parisian bistro meal you created (garlic, cod, endive), flavors still lingering.
Let’s not judge —
Baudelaire doesn’t. Desire can get much funkier, but most importantly, it’s not sloth. Pushed to its extreme, ecstasy brings shock, the new, fresh vision. It is essential spiritual food, whatever its roots.
It’s the price of staying awake, staying human, making things – words – strange so they can sing again.