He boarded the train to St. Gallen with the confidence of a man entering a courtroom in which he was both plaintiff and defendant. Under his right arm, glistening in the weak morning sun, dangled the unapologetically plastic limbs of a woman no one dared to name. Her expression was fixed — lips parted, eyes… Continue reading The last gentleman
Category: identity
Candle in the wind
Friday 18 April 2025 (Good Friday) Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Switzerland On this day in the predominantly Christian nation of Switzerland there is little that anyone can do today. Above: Flag of Switzerland Shops and businesses and cinemas are all closed to commemorate the execution of Christ by crucifixion on Golgotha (Calvary) outside the walls of… Continue reading Candle in the wind
This mediocre adventure
Journal de Jules Renard February 28, 1895 “I think that if I had to choose a profession all over again, I would not be a writer. I would be a peasant. A peasant doesn’t need to please anyone but the land. The land does not flatter in return. Writers grow hunchbacked over paper, hungrily awaiting… Continue reading This mediocre adventure
Next stop upon request (Runaway train)
Above: The logo of Swiss Federal Railways – the national railway company of Switzerland The train lurches with a sudden screeech, the hum of forward motion swallowed by the high eee of braking and the collective gasp of surprised passengers clutching at poles and seats. The train halts between Egnach and Arbon, a silent pause in motion.… Continue reading Next stop upon request (Runaway train)
The winds of change
(Part 2 of “Peace of Mind” / Part 1 of “The road to Rorschach“) Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Switzerland Sunday 23 March 2025 We can’t go on any more with this notionJust saving up to buy a ball and chainSeems it’s all arranged.You can’t buy time and you can’t buy emotion What have you and I… Continue reading The winds of change
Shadows on the sea
“O call back yesterday, bid time return.“ William Shakespeare, Richard II Tuesday 11 March 2025 Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Schweiz The fog drifts over the Bodensee (Lake Constance) like a whispered secret, delicate as breath on glass. It moves with the hush of something ancient, curling in tendrils over the water’s surface, dissolving as it meets… Continue reading Shadows on the sea
Invention of self
“Life is other than what we write.“ André Breton, Nadja (1928) Friday 7 March 2025 Landschlacht, Schweiz Above: Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Switzerland Literature is both a mirror and a chisel: One reflecting the world as it is. The other carving out the world as it could be. This blog may not be literature, but the… Continue reading Invention of self
To lay the keel
Tuesday 3 March 2025 Eskişehir, Türkiye “Nikos Kazantzakis asked his God for ten additional years. Ten additional years in which to complete his work – to say what he had to say and “empty himself“. He wanted Death to come and take only a sackful of bones. Ten years were enough. Or so he thought.… Continue reading To lay the keel
Oblivion: the sacred and the absurd
Monday 17 February 2025 Eskişehir, Türkiye “Time is the father of truth. Its mother is our mind.” Giordano Bruno, The Ash Wednesday Supper (1584) Reading the past I hope to glean truth that sustains me for the future. By considering the past, perhaps I can perceive the lessons that history can teach us. In examining… Continue reading Oblivion: the sacred and the absurd
Another season
Sunday 16 February 2025 Sometimes words are like tears. Sometimes they quietly emerge from out of the corners of our perception. At other times they pour out of us like the torrent of my rushing river. And there are times when they cannot flow. My research on this calendar day has drawn me to 1923.… Continue reading Another season