poem: 153
out all night long,came in with none,
not a one.
bubba sends them back out,
those nets are full. full.
One hundred fifty-three of them.
full. All the boneheads & beloveds
& the lost & founds.
catfish fry on the beach,
all of 'em sulled up,
till bubba cut loose, mandolin
in hand, some new numbers;
pedro, moved finally
to shuffle, gads about with his fiddle while
old Tom the Twin ignites
under stars the pearl keys
of his squeezebox -
old Russian bayan - with
"Jesus wants me for a sunbeam."
Isopsephists waggin' on,
they's all about Maggie
& why not, john-boy's got
a hard-on for himself, but
Maggie, she's the one,
though she don't need
a number to tell it.
Hexagonal, narcissistic,
Friedman, Harshad,
Biggs-Smith, call it
what you will,
she washes over,
washes over all:
sunbeams, moonbeams,
fish, sheep,
all
the mighty horde.
Labels: fish jam
posted by murat11 at 5:07 PM
20 Comments:
This is a happy, jivin' dance. I love the sunbeams, moonbeams, fish and sheep. It seems you are boppin' between John 21 and Memorial Day at the beach and a bunch of preppies and who knows what else in a squirming, writhing, school of hilarious humanity. Gotta love 'em or one could truly go insane.
The picture at the top is way cool, too. Thanks for making my day.
You are welcome, Teresa. The Gospel reading a few weeks back was John 21, and I have been obsessed with the specificity of the 153 fish ever since. It just seems to jump out of nowhere. I am in the probable minority of those who do not like John's gospel, but I do like this little story, and that number liked to drive me insane.
You don't like John's gospel? But it's the most mystical of all of them? I'd've thought you were a John fan.
Teresa: I know, I know, and there are always times when something breaks through, but I get very irritated by what I experience as the bludgeoning "anti-Semitism." Also, the seams of his agenda always seem to be showing. Mind, I'm not a very good Christian when it comes to notions of exclusivity. Most Christian theology leaves me cold. As I've told others, I'm more properly designated as a "follower of the followers of Christ." Service with intention, loving into the world with intention - this is the stripped-down message that speaks to me. Exclusive atonement, justification, being saved - these do not live in me, though I continue to strive to experience them as important archetypes, rather than exclusive properties of the Christian church.
I tend to read him as "anti-religionist." He had no time for the claptrap of the Pharisees with their holier-than-thou attitude and failure to touch the core matters of loving our neighbors, contacting God, etc. I think many of his criticisms can and should be applied to Christian religionists today.
Teresa: I'll keep looking and reading, and see if he and I can come to some peace.
I don't know what was more interesting - your poem or your comments! I think I broke wikipedia looking up all the number references LOL - the site must have been down for at least a day or two. John does seem a little full of himself sometimes but none of those picked for the team were perfect. My favorite was always Peter. He just seemed like such a GUY, muddling along, constantly surprised that he was even at the party, screwing up left and right but still loved. Don't have as many problems with Christian theology (and yes, I do have some) as I do with Christians. I don't mind a little fish waving but I hate it when they smack you across the face with it. God don't need no PR and besides we usually suck at it.
That being said, I loved the poem and Peter shuffling with his fiddle and all the mystical numbers and graphs and theories that get blown away by that little detail of how many fish. Isopsephists? Sheesh, I gots me no idea how to pronounce that, but the fact that that word could make it into a poem is a miracle all it's own :) I read this twice last night and was too sleepy at the time so had to wake up and head to wikipedia just to see where those words led. Now I'm going to have music playing in my head all day! Fiddles, and mandolins, and Thomas's heavenly keys, no doubt...
Sister Dee, I'm glad you had fun with this, and thank you, thank you, for your tolerance of my hoohaw. There is a love of something that lives in me despite my endless sermonizing. I don't know that Peter is a favorite, but he is a lot of fun, closest, I'm sure, to most of us: a big lumbering St. Bernard or, more likely, Curly of the Stooges. I'll decline to get into the theology of whom that makes Moe.
Three times I came to Muravia and started to answer this comment. My tolerance?? The C+ at best dirt clod? I got questions upon questions and when our pastor got stuck on scriptures saying women could not be pastors I had a hard time sitting on my hands...(or my husband did lol)
Theology IS just the study of God, right? As far as I’m concerned, if you are still studying, you don’t get to have the last word. I always thought I would have a lot of questions to ask God when I got fact to face. Now if I breath my last breath here and find my next one happening in heaven I will just say amen and keep my mouth shut in case they notice me and check the list, and realize my name is NOT on it :)
I have know a few Moes. Not very pleasant folks. I'll stick with the Curlys and Shemps.
Dee: As far as I can tell, you're right with Bubba, while I'm still wrastling with the brotha. My mouth will definitely be shut, cuz I always lose perspective when I open it.
oh, this was fun! got my feet a-tappin' right over those number-crunching isopsephists or whatever they are ... now I need to find my dancing shoes!
lol I wonder if it is possible for any of us to have perspective with our mouths open...maybe it's like sneezing and being unable to keep our eyes open?
Anno: Crunchers, for sure. And isopsephy - what the hell kind of tongue-twister is that?
Dee: Tremeloes, baby. "Silence is Golden."
Sweet! Perhaps you should translate ole King James and give the man a new groove.
add up 1,5,3, you get 9, or the Gospel according to John & Paul:
Dogs for dogging, hands for clapping
Bird's for birding, and fish for fishing
Them for themming and when for whemming
...Only to find the night-watchman
Unaware of his presence in the building
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
I think the number of hits to wiki for isopsephy has jumped considerably. If I were an admin I'd be wondering, what the...
The best I can do with any of the gospels is cherry-pick. A dangerous practice, though some verses are the gospel of love. For consistency, John & Paul of Liverpool are the best bets.
Love the poem! And, happy b'day Larry McMurtry and Allen Ginsberg!
jsd: OKJ Remixed. Only in spurts, mind.
Richard: Good to see that your numerology is intact. Better the cherries that the pits, eh? A venerable crew of Geminis, those two.
One of your best. In my mind anyway. Love the way it washes together, with that one bony Isopsephists stickin' out. Who'd a thought geometry could be so sensual, Mr. Bones?
I do thank you, Sister San. Always nice to get one of your blue ribbons.
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