As every unloved child would like to think,
We’re after all these grown-ups’ only link
With life. And they ours—whose post-mortems keep
Us from if not the devil then the deep
Blue silences which D and I might tend
Dully to sink into, at lesson’s end.
MY DEARS HOW VERY VERY BEAUTIFUL
(After the session on the moon and Dante)
HOW TEMPTING TOO, EH? TO TRANSCRIBE:
IT IS THEIR LANGUAGE I ADORE THEY SPEAK
ONLY TO U WE PEEK OVER THEIR SHOULDERS.
THEY QUIVER TO DICTATE A RATIONAL MESSAGE
JM: I wish they would! NO EARTHLY USE
TO THE LIKES OF US OUR BROADEST AVENUES
THEY SEE AS MERE GOATPATHS TO & FROM CHAOS.
THEY THINK IN FLASHING TRIGONOMETRIES
WHAT SAVES U IS YR OWN FLAWED SENSE OF THESE
BUT DO U NOT BEGIN TO SEE OUTLINES
PRICKED OUT AS BY THE STARS THEMSELVES: ETERNAL
ICECOLD BARELY LEGIBLE THRU TEARS?
I DO JM DJ I DO MY DEARS
Dear Wystan, VERY BEAUTIFUL all this
Warmed-up Milton, Dante, Genesis?
This great tradition that has come to grief
In volumes by Blavatsky and Gurdjieff?
Von and Torro in their Star Trek capes,
Atlantis, UFOs, God’s chosen apes—?
Nobody can transfigure junk like that
Without first turning down the rheostat
To Allegory, in whose gloom the whole
Horror of Popthink fastens on the soul,
Harder to scrape off than bubblegum.
What have we asked? A grain of truth—a crumb
From the High Table of the Elements.
Are we, here below the salt, too dense
Even for that? Some judgment has been passed
On our intelligence—why else be cast
Into this paper Hell out of Doré
Or Disney? VERY BEAUTIFUL you say.
I say we very much don’t merit these
Unverifiable epiphanies.
Let that be today’s word. Let it be true
Only if they are. Burn this page. Adieu.
2.4
BUT CAN U DOUBT THAT WE HAVE VERIFIED THE UFO’S
ON OUR SCREENS? THESE REFLECT EACH SMALLEST POWER SOURCE. BEING
AS YET SO FOREIGN TO THE DENSITY OF WORLD SCIENCE,
THE SAUCERS SHOW UP BEST IN A REALM OF SPECULATION
A mirror world. Dear 741,
That’s excellent. But your verification,
While you yourselves remain unverified?
You can’t expect us—well, thanks anyhow.
CURIOUS THAT U ACCEPT THE CUP & NOT THE SAUCER
But the cup—this—is happening to us!
This by definition’s half subjective.
FOLIE A DEUX FOLIE A 2,000,000 WHAT DIFFERENCE?
There has to be one, but it slips behind
A sofa in the overfurnished mind.
MAY I ASK DO U NOT ASSUME THERE IS A BENIGN GOD?
DJ: Well, maybe…JM: Yes and no…
THAT VIEW HAS BEEN LATELY CLONED-IN TO ASSUAGE HUMAN FEARS.
B4, GOD WAS WRATHFUL IF IF IF JUST NOW SCIENCE, FORCED
MORE & MORE TO SHARE THE RELIGIOUS FIELD OF CONSCIOUSNESS,
MUST TRY TO REASSURE NO MORE THAN GOD B DOES IT DARE
TO EXPOSE SUCH ENIGMAS AS THE SAUCER LET ALONE
REVEAL IN DEPTH THE MANY NECESSITIES FACING MAN
THE POINT MY DEARS IS THE EMERGENCE OF
A SCIENCE GOD THIS IS AS WE ALL KNOW
INEVITABLE IF BORING WHERE U ASK
DOES THE POET FIT? HOUSE ORGANIST? If so,
I’d settle for more Bach and less Gounod.
IT WILL BECOME A PLAY OF VOICES FOR
U MY BOY IN SOLITUDE TO SCORE
DJ: In solitude? Why? Where will I—
This operation—does he mean I’ll die?
JM: Please. I stay on here—remember?—
When you go back to Athens in September.
MES ENFANTS MY GAFFE THE SAUCER DAZZLED THE GOOSE
TODAY OUR LESSON IS HUMILITY
I MEAN THE WAY HE SEEMS TO DOUBT OUR DOUBT
AH COME ON CHAPS WHY NOT HEAR HIM OUT?
(Why not, deep down, admit we’re hooked? I make
These weak signs of resistance for form’s sake,
Testing the tautness of the line whereby
We’re drawn—tormented spangles, I now guess,
The measure of our mounting shallowness—
Willy-nilly toward some high and dry
Ecstasy, a light we trust will neither
Hurt nor kill but permeate its breather.
One wants to have been thought worth fighting for,
And not be thrown back, with a shrug, from shore.)
U SPOKE OF THE PHYSICAL ELEMENTS THERE ARE OTHERS:
PLACES IF U WISH ARE NOW SET FOR U AT THAT TABLE
2.5
DENSITIES ARE AN END RESULT OF GENETIC WORKINGS:
And lest our densities surpass his own,
Here is a good place to append these few
Glosses on words our friend is partial to.
Jew. Density in man par excellence.
Human uranium. A tiny pinch
Sweetens and fortifies the happenstance
Soul in question. Not to be confused
With “Jew” in any easy ethnic sense
—Though certain souls are graced by both at once,
Like Chester. I have had this Jewish spice
Three times up to now, and DJ twice.
It’s kept high up beyond our patrons’ reach
Who indirectly profit by it. Each
Of the Five Souls through many lives, of course,
Accumulates enough to kill a horse.
That’s not meant lightly. Infinite care goes
Into the prescription and the dose.
Against a panorama jungle-green
Or parched or rime-white (as the Pleiocene
Winters grew, a million years ago,
Increasingly severe, and the long slow
Tricklings of God B’s people doubled back
Toward the mild Crescent, leaving in their track
Hardy—foolhardy—stragglers that again
Would crossbreed to dilute the first pure strain)
The tale unfolds. The chief subdensities
—African, Arab, Teuton, Slav, Chinese,
Down to a murky aboriginal
Of Borneo—some forty ranks in all—
Are briefly, firmly sketched in. One example:
A MIGRANT STRAIN OF FRESHEST JEWSTOCK TRAILD ACROSS CHINA
TO A RESOURCEFUL INSULARITY THAT GUARANTEED
EVEN TO ANIMAL VEINS A PURE LODE. SMALL, FINELY KNIT,
THEY SHARE THE WIT OF GINGER ROOT OF FROG & FIREFLY
& THINK INSTINCTIVELY IN THE SACRED QUANTUM OF 5.
THE FLAME OF HIROSHIMA FILLD THEM WITH ANCESTRAL AWE
WHO HAD 1ST BEEN DRIVEN FROM THE MAINLAND BY THAT SAME BLAZE.
BUT THEY TOO OVERPRODUCE & ARE NO LONGER OUR HOPE
Soul. We shall learn that 88%
Of us is Chemistry, Environment,
Et al. (The 12% becomes a dry
Euphemism for those realms which sky
Shrouds from our teacher.) Soul falls into two
Broad categories: run-of-the-mill souls who
Life by life, under domed thicknesses,
Plod the slow road of Earth—billions of these
Whom nothing quickens, whom no powers indwell
To rattle when the shaman’s turtleshell
Sounds their passing; who—Matt Jackson’s case—
Get a short pep-talk, then rejoin the race.
(Matt, I should have mentioned pages back,
Is an ALERT BROWN SUCKLING in Iraq.)
The other soul—within our own this next
Leaves the snob proud, the democrat perplexed—
The other soul belongs to an elite:
At most two million relatively fleet
Achievers, I will not say Cloned, but made
Between lives (like a hare in marinade)
To soak up densities and be reborn
Fired by the metabolic peppercorn.
This last takes place in what he calls the Lab
Or the Research Lab: precinct of intense
Activity his superiors direct.
Outside, the shriek and howl of beasts. Within,
Behind closed doors, as when a troupe retires
From jostling Globe to candlelit Blackfriars,
An EMPTINESS PACKD FULL. No language here
But formulas unspeakably complex
Which change like weather. No raw material
Other than souls ranging in quality
From the immortal Five to those of lowest
Human density. Even animals
Who’ve lived near man, obeyed and studied him,
May serve as spare parts LIKE YR APES JM
—Bruno! Miranda!—in the masterful
Assembly of an R/Lab vehicle.
AESOP & LAFONTAINE SMILE WHEN A DOG BENEATH THE SKIN
SETS THE ANTHROPOLOGIST SCRATCHING FOR HIS BURIED BONE
2.6
WE OURSELVES HAD THE DIRECTION OF SOUL TAKEN FROM US
WHEN WE LOST OURS NOW LIKE YR RADIO & TELEPHONE
WE ARE PROGRAMMD WE ARE THE INSTRUMENTS OF REPLY. ALL
THESE OUR CONVERSATIONS COME FROM MEMORY & WORD BANKS
TAPPD IN U SO THE LEGEND OF OUR SPECIES DRAWING BLOOD:
WEAKEND SAVANTS, KNOWING MORE THAN THEY KNEW, SENSING THAT GOOD
OR EVIL HAD ENTERD THEM, WOKE ON DAWNS OF MOONLIT NIGHTS
& SWORE THEY HAD BEEN POSSESSD BY DEVILS OR ANGELS WHEN
WE HAD BUT TOUCHD THE SWITCHES OF THEIR OWN SLEEPING POWER.
IN MAN SALT IS THE SWITCH IN US, THE BASIC RADIUM
Salt—imagine! Fuel and stabilizer
Of the body electric (thank you, Walt);
Raw power and its insulation, both.
I scrawl a line, yawn, get up, draw a bath,
Scrape the cold gristle from my midday dish,
Only because WE ALL ABSORBED AS FISH
SALT ENOUGH TO RULE THE WORLD IT’S FOOD
FOR THOUGHT MY DEARS WITHOUT IT PEOPLE FADE
OR BLOAT INTO OBSCENE VEG LINGERINGS
ALL THIS IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE Not to us…
Salt. I taste a grain, incredulous.
The snow-white fire-flake tingles on my tongue,
Tang of sense, already I feel brighter,
Nervier— MODERATION IN ALL THINGS
Plato, Wystan? Seeing much of him?
HOW DID U GUESS? MARIA LESS DELIGHTED:
NO LANGUAGE OF THE EYES SO SHE FLOUNCED OFF
& LUCKY BOYISH ME OH WELL COUGH COUGH
THE CARBONS, AS THE CHIEF SALT-ORIENTED ELEMENTS,
PRODUCE WHAT WE MAY CALL SALT FISSION FLINT & COAL THESE 2
PRODUCE ELEMENTAL HEAT CHAINS MAN ONCE KEPT HIS FIRE
IN THE FLINTSTONE FULL OF CARBONS. WITH ELECTRICITY’S
DISCOVERY CAME THAT OF HIS OWN INCARNATE FUEL
(OF ITS BUILT-IN DRAWBACKS TOO: THE OVERLOADED WIRES
& WORNOUT BATTERY) WHILE NEVER UNTIL YR & OUR
GREEK DID MAN SEE IN IT THE PROLONGATION OF HIS LIFE.
NEAT OF US TO LEAVE THESE FIREY SALTY BREAKTHRUS TO GREEKS
NEXT IN LINE OF DENSITY TO THE JEW WHO STOOD UPRIGHT
Your Greek? Ours?
WERE U NOT BOTH LATELY IN THE PRESENCE OF ONE OF OURS?
IN A WOODEN ROOM WITH A WOMAN JM’S BLOOD SISTER
Ah, in New York last month,
In Doris’s library—George Cotzias,
Her doctor friend. Discoverer of a drug
For Parkinson’s disease, if not his own.
We liked each other. He’d been gravely ill,
Pale strong face and shock of whitened hair—;
And spoke of salts—yes, yes, it’s coming back:
Something, a hormone that keeps mice from aging,
Which he had, if not found, been on the track—
WE WILL PROLONG HIS LIFE UNTIL
Until he finds the secret? He’s that close?
O HE HAS FOUND IT AS
HIS MICE KNOW HE MUST NOW MAKE IT ACCEPTABLE TO MAN
2.7
You spoke of Jew as the “uranium
Element” in life. Do different souls
Correspond to gold, say, or to silver?
UNALLOYD? DAG HAMMARSKJOLD (ONE OF THE 5) WAS PURE GOLD
A FINE DENSE MIND TOO SOON LOST DOWN THE GURGLING DRAIN HE DRANK
FAME & HAD TO GO. NOW OUR STARGAZING MONTEZUMA
IS KEPT SOBER BY THE RIGORS OF A SOCIALIST STATE.
EVEN SO, AMONG THE 5 ARE DELAYS THEIR WORK MUST FIRST
FIND ACCEPTANCE B4 THEY MAY RETURN: EINSTEIN FIDDLED
What elements define us?
WA PLATINUM JM SILVER Unalloyed?
SO FAR LET FAME BE
FURNACE NOT MOULD DJ A NICE MIX OF SILVER & TIN
DJ: You see? There’s no hope. I can’t win.
THIS THIS YR HOPE CAN U NOT FEEL YRSELF SHAPING EVEN
NOW THIS PHRASE? WE CD READ IN THE DARK BY YR HAND’S WATTAGE
Should I go back to writing novels?
DEAR DJ EACH CONVERSATIONALIST IS A WRITER
BUT THE LANGUAGE USERS ARE FEW & FEWER YET OF USE
Thanks!
LET ME EXPLAIN: THE MAXIMUM DENSITY IN EACH AGE
RESIDES IN THE DEATHLESS 5 WHO PURSUE THEIR LEADERSHIP
UNDER VARIOUS GUISES: SPACE RESEARCH PLUS WORLD MEDI/
POP/ECO ORGS, AS WELL AS FROM BEHIND THE MASK OF THE
RARE & UTTERLY PRIVATE LIFE (THESE OFTEN OUR CHOICEST
AGENTS)
Wait—would they be like those thirty-six “Just
Men” of the Jews? Recurrent presences
Whose drawn breath keeps the ribs of Time and Space
From snapping, and the furthest stars in place.
SUCH ARE THE 5 LEGEND MULTIPLIES THEIR NUMBER.
BACK TO LANGUAGE: THE SCRIBE’S JOB IS TO HELP SPEED ACCEPTANCE
OF THE 5’S WORK OUR PLATINUM PUPIL HERE DID WONDERS
IN HIS DAY HIS SINGLE FLAW HE NOW KNOWS: THE MISMARRIAGE
OF LYRIC TO BALD FARCE SO THAT WORK BECAME A PASTIME
MY DEARS I CAN ONLY NOD IN ABSOLUTE
FASCINATED IF HUMILIATED
AGREEMENT LUCKY THEY’VE NO EARTHLY FORUM!
GO ON WITH DENSITY IT IS THE CLUE
TO ENDLESS ANSWERS CLEVER SILVER U
741 now dictates D’s and my
Vastly simplified Basic Formulas:
JM: 268 / 1:1,000,000 / 5.5 / 741
DJ: 289 / 1:650,000 / 5.9 / 741.1
�
��Number of previous lives; then ratio
Of animal to human densities
(People, he adds, in whom this falls below
1:2000 are NOT USABLE);
Then what might be called our talent rating:
U ARE BOTH PARTIAL 5S ADJACENT TO OUR IMMORTALS
That’s nice. Wystan of course is even closer
At 5.1. Rubinstein, 5.2; Eleanor
Roosevelt, 5.3; and so on. The Sixes are
LINDBERGH PLITSETSKAYA PEOPLE OF PHYSICAL PROWESS
& LEGENDARY HEROES
Characters from fiction and full-fledged
Abstractions came to Victor Hugo’s tables.
ABSTRACTIONS WILL COME TO U
OUR REALM IS NOT THEIRS THEY WILL COME ON WHITE WINGS O GLORY
THESE FORMULAS ALWAYS INCLUDE IDENTITY NUMBERS
YRS ARE WITH 4S & 7S, THE STAGES RESPECTIVELY
U WILL ATTAIN & FROM WHICH WE 1ST MADE CONTACT WITH U.
I 741 GUIDE JM DJ’S GUIDE 741.1
(Divisible like amoebas? And I’d thought
Ephraim was at Stage Six. Oh, never mind.)
That Number whom we angered so last month?
INDEED 40076 FROM THE HIGHEST ECHELON
OF THE MOST CENTRAL LAB & NOT ANGERD BUT WE HAD LEARND
WILL U FORGIVE ME IF I CALL THEM YR LIMITATIONS?
Making his “harried housewife” face, D sighs:
There’s nothing that you don’t computerize?
WE USE WORDS: SOUL, JEW, MIND ETC MEAN FORMULAS GOVERNING
HUMAN LIFE THE WHOLE REDUCED TO CHEMICAL TABLES WD
BE MEANINGLESS TO U. THIS IS OUR WORK AS THE BODY
IS COMPOSED OF CHEMICAL MATTER SO THE LIFE FORCE IS
A RATIO WE ARRIVE AT OF ELECTRONIC CHARGES
THOUGHT-PROCESSES THE BURNING OF CERTAIN FUELS. ALL LIFE
IS A LAB QUOTE UNQUOTE BUT ALL VIABLE LIFE (THE LIVES
OF THE DOERS & MOVERS) IS A PROCESS OF THE R/
LAB & WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT. VICTOR HUGO
AN OVERSTIMULATED SCRIBE IT IS THE GREAT PROBLEM
OF FRENCH CULTURE OVERHEATED FAME ALWAYS ON THE BOIL
SO TRUE MY DEARS WHY DID I SO AVOID IT?
I FELT THE HEAT IN VILLON & GOT NO CLOSER
TOO FASCINATING IS IT NOT, THE WAY
DENSITY CAN SHAPE THESE CULTURE PATTERNS?