what I do

hangman
I know, it is awful, manipulative, makes you angry and sad
but I want both my sons to see it
I saw it today, made me cry a bit.and helped me think

getting a story ready for telling induces a dreamy state, or is it inducing a dreamy state gets the preparation of a story going? I don't know, but I sleep a lot when I'm making a telling, at odd hours, and it;s never enough

I saw this after a midday sleep, before coffee- all synapses started firing simultaneously

the story of what is going on:
violence is erupting, neo nazis have been voted into parliament, taking the law into your hands is being silently approved of by society, (that is not new, and not exclusively right wing- riots, destruction, verbal abuse even beatings of politicians, members of parliament have not been vehemently dissaproved of or legally persecuted by the political parties) people are getting killed or beaten up.
it is escalating
people are afraid. The old, the "different, the "alien" the "weak" are terrified.
first thought: living in fear is living in bondage. it is a non life.

secondly, the story I'm working on:  the Cyclops, from the Odyssey

fact: there is no image more terrifying than being in total darkness, absolute, thick blackness and having ONE eye glint at you

(the genius of the master storyteller- two eyes is familiar, may be dangerous, fierce, whatever, but one eye?..in a cave where you can't get out?.)

 it has never been a coincidence, choosing the story I'm going to tell, even if I discover why after I've made the choice

this is what Homer whispered in my ear as I sat there in the Cyclop's cave, watching Odysseus do his thing
*look the beast in the eye. basic. identify it, talk to it, learn about it. that is how you will find out what its weakness is
*use your anger as a weapon, wait for the right time, you will know when that is. otherwise you might be trapped in the cave.
*do not reveal yourself too early.
*make do. use what is within your reach.
*use your resources- do not "save them for a better time" (he did have that potent wine, a gift for showing mercy, why not take it along- it was the undoing of that lawless, merciless beast)
*be ever ready. be awake.
*if you are just a human, do not kill the being that has the power to roll back that rock that is keeping you trapped
*and after, tell the story.



now I know what the story is that I'm going to tell on Friday, to children. once more, homer just before the elections.
I did the killing of the suitors before may 6
I will be telling of what one man did, many thousands of years ago, when he got himself and his men trapped in a cave with a monster. I'll let the listeners make their own connections. if I remember to i migh hint or nudge with a comment at some point..
:-)