Pleasures Of The Text
- wateryourcellphone
- Jul 10
- 1 min read
We want to ask, “Why hot? Why cold?”
Why a euphoria of heights? A dysphoria
of depths? “Weaker meanings must give way
to stronger, abstract meanings which cover
more of the experience captured.” The
power that pushes forward symbolic
interpretation—is the human body.
“The text is erotic” in the same way
that “the body is the locus of desire.”
The text “involves & tantalizes.”
Yet its language is unstable. Any two
characters, situations, objects, or
actions imply opposition, are prone
to “slippage.” The lean & hungry.
The young & the restless. Beans
& franks. One bourbon, one scotch,
one beer. Moustaches & villainy.
Roasting & boiling. Eveline is supposed
to elope & begin a new life. But when
at the last minute, at the end
of the docks, she refuses, this is where
our nightmares begin. But listen.
The body has a say. The inner ear
remains a shelter for keeping balance,
despite dizzying paradox, a labyrinthine
structure of fluid-filled canals & ducts.
What do we require in order to feel
that a story is completed? An epilogue?
A description of nature or the weather?
All right. Snow was general all over
Ireland.
by Peter Grieco
