Love is Not

Love is not just a function of the eyes.

Beautiful objects will, of course, inspire

possessive urges - you need not despise

your taste. But when insatiable desire

inflames you for a girl who's out of fashion,

lacking in glamour - plain, in fact - that fire

is genuine. That's the authentic passion.

Beauty, though, any critic can admire.

-Marcus Argentarius

I

I first read those words in a second hand bookstore on Main Street. I was crouching amid volumes and volumes of dusty poetry and this tiny red book, almost hidden by the taller books around it, caught my eye. It's called Love Poems. I immediately bought it. $4.75.

The Favourite Game

By ten o'clock the floor was jammed with sharply dressed couples, and, seen from the upstairs balcony, their swaying and jolting seemed to be nourished directly by the pulsing music, and they muffled it like shock absorbers. The bass and piano and steady brush-drum passed almost silently into their bodies where it was preserved as motion...

I

There was nothing superficial about a thousand people deeply engaged in the courting ritual, the swinging fragments of reflected light sweeping across their immobile eye-closed faces, amber, green, violet. They couldn't help being impressed, fascinated by the channelled violence and the voluntary organization.

I

-Leonard Cohen

I

Don't his words just curl around your senses deliciously?

Vocab Slam

I enjoy reading. Generally, as I read I keep a list of all the words I can't decipher from the context and, when time permits, look them up. The idea is to expand my diminutive vocabulary. Here are a few, by request:

• garrulous - excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters
• recalcitrant - reisting authority or control
• zeitgeist - the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time
• incontinent - lacking in moderation or self control; unceasing or unrestrained
• proclivity - natural or habitual inclination or tendency
• occlude - to close, shut, or stop up
• specious - apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible

Conversations with an Octogenarian

There's a very old, very skinny Chinese man that I see in my neighbourhood occasionally. He must be about 80, with large decaying teeth and a thinning grey comb over, always carrying something in a plastic grocery bag. Every time I see him he stops me in the street and tells me in a direct business like fashion that I'm very very beautiful. I generally thank him for the compliment and try to direct the conversation into more interesting channels. He will not be diverted! He ignores every comment unrelated to my physical appearance.

I

And near the end of our dialogue he always extracts a strange promise from me. "Will you promise me something?" he always asks.

I

"Uh, sure."

I

"Promise me you'll get even more beautiful."

I

I chuckle uncertainly. "I'll try."

I

"No! Don't try." And reminiscent of Yoda he admonishes, "Either do it or don't do it."

I

Either get more beautiful or get more ugly? With these limited options I choose the less offensive of the two. "Ok, I'll do it."

I

Then he smiles his toothy smile and putters off in a self satisfied way, as if he had just accomplished his goal for the day.

Picturesque

I love the way the moon looks rising over those old Victorian houses in East Van.

Canadian Hero

I was in my first year of college when I learned of Leonard Cohen. And by learned of him I mean my English prof played 'Suzanne' in class and I immediately dismissed him and his work as stupid. I was bored by his low register, by the repetition, by the lack of what I thought was instrumental interest, by the stupid lyrics that I didn't understand.

I was distracted by the boy that sat next to me. We often giggled conspiratorially at the prof's poor english skills. She was a fresh faced middle aged lady from Russia who spoke with a heavy accent. We never forgot one incident in which she was trying to describe an animal to us. "It's large, has spotted fur...." We stared at her blankly. "Rhymes with leotard..."

Could she possibly mean leopard? As one, the class burst into laughter. We sat there laughing at our bewildered professor for at least a minute. (We were a jolly, if somewhat immature bunch.) Finally, wiping the tears from my eyes, I enlightened her as to the correct pronunciation of that difficult word. Her face changed colour as she quickly went on with the lecture.

I've developed a bit more sensitivity since that year. Cohen moves me. I listen to him on repeat at work and the time flies by with his beautiful words.

You held on to me like I was a crucifix.

Like a baby stillborn

like a beast with his horn

I have torn

everyone who reached out for me.

I'm stubborn as those garbage bags

that time cannot decay.

I said, "Lady, unfold me".

Fire Hydrant in East Van

Here is the scene: hot Sunday evening, the sun on its slow journey down towards the blue mountains, we two on our bicycles, on our way home for dinner, our skin burnt from our afternoon on the beach, our bodies still glistening from our swim in the ocean.

I

The first thing we noticed was the water streaming down the road, under our tires. Then we saw the people. Dozens of them dancing and frolicking around a busted fire hydrant. You told me we couldn't miss this, so we leaned Beatrice and Rupert up against a fence, tore off our clothes and ran towards the spray. It was cold and it hurt but we dove through it like children.

I

There was music and beer and wet bodies and laughter and a carefree crowd enjoying the moment with a spontaneous exuberance that took my breath away.

I

You wanted to stay forever but I had an appointment to keep so we left slowly, with backward glances. You were grinning from ear to ear as you said, "Now I can cross that off my list."