Tuesday, 4 March 2014

"Between Thought and Expression..."

"...there lies a lifetime."


Lou Reed wrote these words in 1968-69, and he was clearly a far more considered man than I am. For his statement is sometimes true, a thought can sometimes gently stimulate the synapses for what seems like an age, before impulse finally makes its way to sensuous, charming mouth or expressive hands, like the spark expanding along the metal loops of a Tesla coil before it crackles into reality, a flash of inspiration in a bar; a bedroom; or even on rainy streets where puddles are irridescent with oil dropped from ill maintained cars.

The person brings forth elegance and flourish like a skater posing at the end of a spin. The effect is deadly.

How wonderful it must be to be able to allow your brain to effortlessly pick the right thing to say or do, for it to act with studied contemplation before it lands the bowler on the hat-stand without even looking.

Me, I operate at the two other extremes. One is where the lifetime's contemplation becomes eternal, a never ending lightning streaked fog of indecision and panicked pondering, agonising over whether something is the right thing to do. By the time the decision is made, the moment is gone and the action is trapped within a pile of dust long after you've died.

The other extreme is where expression is so fast, it actually proceeds thought and almost rips it' way backwards up your spine to explode a “Oh my god, how could I have said that?” bomb in your mind. Sometimes its the only way to try and break the cycle of obsession described above, but the dangers are countless.

Most of the time you just end up mentally slapping yourself in the face, or scrubbing your knees with a brillo pad.

Copyright Bloody Mulberry 04.03.14

No comments:

Post a Comment