Large Fierce Mammal

Welcome back Goode Reader. Please take your ease, for I ask your indulgence in what at first may appear to be a politically motivated argument. As you will see, it is nothing of the sort, notwithstanding that I have been moved to act by the complexion of reactions to someone who is most decidedly and absolutely political.

I have grown weary of the incessant rhetoric that equates the boorishness of a certain candidate for a rather significant elected office with the way “all men” behave. Fie! Fie I say!

A Gentleman is not a saint, nor should he aspire to be, and for those among you who would like to believe such an animal no longer exists, if it ever did, please note the upper case “G”. It’s significant, although less so I suppose for those who can be counted among the mean and miserable maggotry that infests the Earth.

Most irksome of all is the sophomoric argument arising from all this, that women in general have no right of criticism here based on some quotation of sales figures for a popular although rather tame book in the BDSM genre; specifically, Fifty Shades of Grey.

I am in my 60th year upon this planet, and in those years it has been my pleasure to learn that what a Woman chooses to indulge in, by thought, word, or deed, with a particular Lover does not in any way equate with what she has ever done, or will ever do again, with anyone else. It certainly doesn’t mean she’s open for business simply because of a book she’s read and whatever titillating imaginings it may give an infantile observer.

I make no claim to being the world authority on what women like or want, but I can tell you that as I have applied the lessons learned in my studies, I have found myself more often right than wrong.

I remind you Goode Reader, I did not choose the context here. That rests squarely upon the pointy heads of a squealing subset of the Great Unwashed, and yet a very vocal and unfortunately numerous subset for all that. Back in the 2012 iteration of this series, I published a poem here called Force Continuum , the full presentation of which you can read here. It spoke to a more intelligent and enlightened consideration of the subject, and before you begin I’ll give you a little pro tip: The most significant point in what you are about to read is contained in the last verse. If you still don’t get it, drop me an intelligently worded comment (see what I did there?).

So here’s Force Continuum, presented here again because, fuck knows, the World needs it.

Force Continuum

By LFM

A handsome rogue, a bodice ripped,
A woman for the taking.
Love’s helpless captive to endure
The fury of its making.

She struggles to resist him as
He takes her sans remorse,
Takes what she’d give willingly
And seasons it with force.

She knows that in her torment,
He will keep her sore beset
To the limit of enduring,
Then he’ll push her further yet.

She knows her scent, the sounds she makes
Fan flames of darkest drive,
As though, impaled upon his spit
He’s roasting her alive.

Her writhing, gleaming frenzy
Wrings confession from her lips,
She screams her need aloud to him
As climax comes to grips.

This is no rape I speak of here,
For each and every night
The lure of dark seduction gleams
Beneath the bedroom light.

T’is not to say all women crave
Such ravishment as this.
And if you think that’s what I’ve said
There’s something that you miss.

A Lover worthy of the name
Is one who’s come to find
That the truest path to heart’s desire
Lies through a woman’s mind.

Ed’s Manifesto, which I have previously mentioned only in passing, is the name of a Facebook page associated with other internet outlets ( like this one) belonging to a Mexican Gentleman by the name of Ed Calderón. Ed lives in Mexico City, and until recently was employed by the Mexican government. His job description, to my understanding, could have easily come to include retirement by way of having your carcass ventilated by any number of unkind means. In short, and in his own words, “Ed is a security specialist and combatives instructor with over 10 years experience in public safety along the northern border area of Mexico. He runs seminars and private training specific to anti-abduction, escapology, free hand and unconventional edged weapons work. He is also director of Libre Fighting Systems in Mexico.”

It was through Ed’s Manifesto that I first learned of the Libre style of bladework, quite a while after he drew me in with his enthralling bag of tricks learned from the criminal culture operating in the violent and distinctly non-permissive environment that is Mexico, where abduction for ransom has become a growth industry. From this Ed has drawn his programmes of counter-abduction and “Escapology” (taught as “Black Box” Modules), Weaponology (arming yourself from the environment), and of course Libre; to name a few because Ed, like all serious Teachers, is a Student in his own right, and therefore a work in progress. I have never met Ed, but that’ll get fixed one of these days.

We’ll be looking at Ed Calderón, his Manifesto, Libre, and related topics in more detail in the near future, but in the mean time, here’s a poem inspired by it all  that I offer by way of a sort of warmup exercise.

Libre

By LFM

Physicians study hard and long
All anatomic charts devised
To do no harm, while other men
Will see they can be weaponized.

You’ll scarcely notice when they pass,
These Men of blood about their day,
Yet each one knows what you might know
If you’d not turn your eyes away.

Feral Men, they might be called,
Once boxed in, now summoned back,
To seize their own captivity,
The box still there, now coloured black.

Men of Love and Men of Faith,
Fathers, Husbands, Brothers, Sons,
Each keeps his troth with those before,
Within each heart that blood still runs.

His life is quite the same as yours,
For each one plies his daily trade,
With bills to pay and oaths to keep,
And much that lies beyond the blade.

But shining on each heart of hearts,
On each and every day of days,
The sun may set on happy ends,
Or lives enwrapped in crimson haze.

For in the calm there hunts a thing,
With eyes ablaze and talons keen,
To rend and slay what most you Love,
And only you to stand between.

So as you make your meal tonight,
And slice the meat to join the pan,
Feel the blade across the board,
And how you may be such a Man.

Seek out this knowledge, gentle friend,
From such as they describ-ed here,
And learn to meet the daemon’s flash
With steady heart instead of fear.

Now find the darkness in your heart,
Take no advice to rise above,
For ‘Tis no shame to make it yours,
A fiend to guard the ones you Love.

For if the daemon ever comes,
Unleash your fiend and be his Lord —
His every bit of flesh your meat,
His very bones your cutting board.

Lindi Ortega (Source: Her official website at http://lindiortega.ca/) Click to enbiggen.

All thematic threads be damned, let’s take a little side road, shall we? Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

In the past year, we’ve found Canadian singer-song writer Lindi Ortega. If you’ve never heard of her, then prepare to be delightfully educated. She’s been described as “country’s most delectable vixen”, “not-quite-saintly”, and having a voice that offers, “… her own unique take on the torch and twang of her country influences such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn ….”

Her work incorporates inspirations from, “… the sights and sounds and souls of those who’ve found themselves in Faded Gloryville, brought to its saloons, flophouses and cheap motels by drink, by debt, by vanity, heartbreak, failure, fear or misfortune.”

So, the darkness of the heart, bad choices, ill advised self-medication, and circumstance. Sweet.

So now, take a sip of Lindi Ortega and learn just how sweet darkness can be. (more…)

My poem, The Strange Case of the Caller at the Library Window, published here on Day 7 of last year’s Long Winter’s Night, “… is the story of two fellow beings. One, a solitary Man interrupted at his ease by a persistent caller. The other, as it turns out, merely in quest of a last meal, and a companion to bear witness to the end of a life well lived.”

The point arising therefrom that is of significance to a detailed consideration of forbidden knowledge is the manner in which such a tricksy and spirited engagement came to so abrupt and unexpected an end. Having been run ragged answering false knocks at his front door, our “solitary Man” stands angrily before it …

I stood in thought, though not for long
Ere came a thump from up the stair,
And then I knew the trickster’s game –
The window standing open there!

I entered in and slammed the door,
Then sword in hand I mounted up
To find my empty platter and,
Upon the floor, my empty cup.

And there upon my reading chair
An ancient Raven watching me,
More grand upon its lofty back
Than any thron-ed King could be.

And then, as though the Raven felt
Its mission only part fulfilled,
It settled on my open book,
Beside a pool where beer had spilled.

A moment it regarded me,
Ere startlement could turn to rage,
The Raven inked its beak with beer
And pecked a mark upon the page.

Then silently it fluttered back,
Enthroned again, with solemn stare.
From thence it tumbled to the floor,
Stone dead before it landed there.

The Raven is a fount of Ravenly goodness, right up until his death comes as suddenly as the turning off of a light. While it is true that the more complex the animal, the more subject it may be to sudden and catastrophic death — aneurysm, stroke, heart attack — this was not the case of the Raven in my poem, who clearly knew his time had come. He simply refused to reveal his moribund state, choosing instead to let it reveal itself.

This is a trait common among many species of animals, and for those people attuned enough to make worthy companions for them, it can be observed among Dogs, Cats, and a wide variety of Birds. In this respect, even domestic animals may exhibit a distinctly feral side to their natures. On that note, there’s this just in, from the Oxford English Dictionary:

Feral
Adjective
1  (especially of an animal) in a wild state, especially after escape from captivity or domestication.
‘a feral cat’

1.1  Resembling or characteristic of a wild animal.
‘his teeth were bared in a feral snarl’

1.2  (of a young person) behaving in a wildly undisciplined and antisocial way.
‘gangs of feral youths’

In the actual Wild, to show weakness and other behaviours that may cause one to stand out from the crowd is to attract predators. For members of highly territorial species, or at times of heightened competition such as mating seasons, the imperative of procreation can be the trigger to stand tall, bright and shiny, with not a chink visible in the armor. On that score, here’s this from me:

“Wild is not the same as unpredictable or dangerous. Far from it. Wild is purity of spirit and perfection of action, in harmony with the Nature of things, and the nature of every thing, free from conscious thought and attendant paralyzing indecision.” ~ Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – The Way of the Wild

So given an imperative that outweighs simple survival, an organism may exhibit itself at the pinnacle of its perfection. Even though it may know it has but one stroke to offer an adversary, the depths of its vitality can only be known by inviting that stroke. Consider that.

Back on Day 1, I laid before you some specific flavours of forbidden knowledge. I want to refresh your mind, Goode Reader, before we get too far gone, as is said.

To begin, there are historical practices, now treated as anachronistic in this self-crowned “enlightened” age …

“… There were, and are, cultures in the world for whom the very thought of announcing one’s real name would be anathema, all in the belief that the knowing of such an intimate thing would grant advantage to an adversary. It could make one vulnerable to sorcery, and must needs remain hidden at all costs….” ~ Worldly Wisdom Wednesday – The Power of a Name

And Truths you would be best advised to not so cavalierly cast into the dustbin of anachronism, for they may quietly present themselves in an event or spectacle near you …

“Black magic at its core, is just a form of weaponized psychology…. The psychology is in making the people watching it believe that it is beyond explanation.” ~ Ed’s Manifesto

As previously quoted here, when Miyamoto Musashi wrote in his Book of Five Rings …

“If you know something, you know something. If you do not know something, it does not exist in your world.” ~ Musashi, What You Don’t Know

He was not speaking literally. Rather, he was speaking of how such ignorance will affect one’s perceptions, thoughts, and actions — situations such as this, drawn from personal experience …

“Back in the September of 2013, Mrs. LFM and I dropped by the house of a Friend on the way back from a day canoe trip in the woods, and so I was openly wearing the usual bush gear with the likewise usual sharp and pointies …. there was a young woman visiting who had come with a man my Friend works with, and who was, let us say, young beyond her years. I recall that her name was Dominique, and I was soon to learn that she had embraced the implications of that moniker to a degree marvelous to behold.

“Upon being introduced to me for the very first time in her life, and sharing with me the status of invited guest in another Man’s home, this ever so young woman immediately and pointedly expressed her concern about my being “armed” … She wasn’t shocked or panic stricken you understand, just opinionated in a dangerously and rudely misguided sort of way. The whole thing was made all the more interesting considering the venue – my Friend has an extensive sword collection and has them prominently displayed all over his house….

“… I was game in the moment and I said, ‘So the simple visible presence of my safely sheathed knives bothers you. Let me ask you this; what if I’d come in wearing my favourite tweed dinner jacket, with all this still present but hidden underneath. Would that be better?’

“She replied, ‘Well, ignorance is bliss, right?’

“Ah Goode Reader! Never were words spoken that so perfectly encapsulate the incipient doom of society! For my part, after a derisive snort and a pause to sip the whisky my Friend had so generously placed in my hand, I replied, ‘No. Ignorance is most certainly NOT bliss.'” ~ Stupid is as Stupid Sees

All of which ties into this, already said but demanding of no end of reminders …

“And let it never be forgotten, Goode Reader, the most dangerous and insidious kind of forbidden knowledge — that which is self-forbidden and willfully eschewed.” ~ Dark Sentiments Season 7 – Day 1: Forbidden Knowledge

I will let those points marinate in your mind, Goode Reader. Until next time.

The 1953 Ray Bradbury novel Fahrenheit 451 is set in a totalitarian future version of our world. Inspired by a combination of his love of libraries, and his coming to know in his formative years that Adolf Hitler was burning books (in concert with incarcerating and murdering intellectuals), the book tells how at first, only books that were considered politically “dangerous” were targeted, but this soon devolved into all books, of all kinds, so that any report that one had been found would result in the response of a brigade of “Firemen”, to burn the book and arrest of everyone implicated in its possession.

Teachers of the current era report that fewer of their students are actually reading books, and often both lack the focus to read anything longer than a Twitter post, and stridently object to being “forced” to do so as a condition of passing a course. Books have come to be feared by a generation that considers it quite reasonable to read everything through a fine toothed comb in search of offensive triggers. Teaching classic Greek and Roman literature is under attack due to references to violence, rape, incest, and assorted other novelties that are in no way limited to classical times. And so, arguments are raised that such fundamentally critical components to an understanding of Western civilization are no longer valid, and in fact, hurtful to the modern student. And so the seeds of weakness and ignorance are sewn, and all is safe and warm until the taloned hand reaches through the door of your safe space.

Directed by Mark Johnston, produced by Amanda Handy, and splendidly narrated by Alberto Manguel, Forbidden Reading is the third installment in the “Empire of the World” series which described as, “… a compelling look at the act of reading.” Either before or after tonight’s feature film, you may also wish to read a relevant interview with Mark Johnston here.

If you have read my poem Most Loved and Frightful Seed that appeared here in Day 4, bringing this to your attention is a continuation of that line of thought. If you have not, then get out of here and don’t come back until you do. For the rest of you, get comfortable, pour that drink, but keep the refill flagon handy because this will take most of the next hour. (more…)

Tonight’s Dark Sentiment examines a very special kind of forbidden knowledge. The kind we simply can’t know. The kind of knowledge that comes of no living witnesses.

Francis is the tale of 17 year old Francis Brandywine, and originated as a short story written by Dave Eggers at the request of Ira Glass for reading on his radio show, This American Life. Eggers was one of six American Writers asked to write a short story about Adventure for reading aloud on the program’s October 7, 2011 edition. You can listen to that broadcast here.

In 2014, director Richard Hickey and producer Kevin Batten, working with a team of animators, turned Dave Eggers’ words into the 7 minute animated short film you are about to enjoy. Francis has screened at the Cannes Film Festival and Raindance. (more…)

Canadian Actress and Model Shalom Harlow photographed in conference with an unidentified fellow avid reader by Bruce Weber.

Most Loved and Frightful Seed

By LFM

I would show you a thing
To uplift and inspire.
Cast a glow on the path
To whate’r you desire.

This mysterious thing’s,
Filled with magickal quirks,
It holds wishes to grant —
If you know how it works.

It can give you ideas
To review and compare
With the ones in your head
That were already there.

Answer questions unasked,
Confound those that you do,
And inspired or confused?
Well, that’s all up to you!

It can speak without sound
If you’ve mind to give ear,
Thoughts writ by another
A long when from here.

It’s made of ideas cast
In ink, neatly packed
In thick stacks of paper
As fiction or fact.

Crack open its covers
And dare take a drink —
It can change how you feel,
Even more, how you think.

Books are easy to love,
And to treasure as kin
That tell tales of wonder,
Privation and sin.

Left unread, it does nothing
But gathering motes,
And if dampened, grow mildew
In e’er thickening coats.

Yet, no matter how loved,
In an attic one day,
By its title alone
May it be cast away.

It may threaten agendas
And deeply held wishes
That now view it as fuel
Or as food for the fishes.

For the Love of a book
Is a wonderful thing,
But an object of hatred
When zealotry’s king.

Its strength is its weakness —
It’s only a seed,
To plant it is easy –
All you need do is read.

But once it’s been planted
And started to sprout,
That’s the part that fills zealots
With sickening doubt.

For absent the knowledge
Of where it took root,
How can a zealot know
Which ones to shoot?

No matter how learned
Or filled with delight,
Once planted, the seed
Need be nowhere in sight!

Knowledge may be forbidden by circumstance, both accidental and by design. But even the best laid plans may have an unexpected expiry date after which nothing will ever be the same again.

Premier Automne (First Autumn) is the story of Abel and Apolline.

“Abel lives in the winter and Apolline lives in the summer. Isolated in their “natures”, they never met each other. They are not even supposed to meet. So when Abel crosses the border and discovers Apolline, curiosity is overwhelming. Their encounter soon becomes more complicated than they could imagine. Both of them will have to learn compromise to protect the other…” ~ UFUNK

(more…)

“True Love is the darkest of sentiments both because it has the power to motivate those blessed enough to be possessed by it to the performance of feats that are incomprehensible to the great unwashed, and because, in its truest form, it does not exist to most of the world. In that, it is truly dark because True Love is only understood by the few who are granted its epiphany by the Gods. I speak in absolutes here because I, and my beloved Mrs. LFM, are so possessed.

“If you’ve ever truly loved a Dog you’ve experienced True Love. To understand True Love you must first grasp the one thing that seems anathema to it – the fact that all living things must die. While I myself intend to live forever or die trying, the aforementioned fact is one of the Great Truths of the Universe. One that any mature being must embrace with an open heart or be forever doomed to doubt, misery, and the hell of the hesitant.

“Many will contest that statement, and to them I will point out that likewise, many do not know whether their asshole is bored or punched. Nay, ignore the clamourings of the ignorant good reader, and hark instead to my words, consorting not with those who will remain ignorant of True Love in perpetuity. True Love is not of the realm of the touchy feely nor is it born of gonads and strife. It has nothing to do with saving kittens from drowning, nor children from bullies. It has nothing to do with good or evil, although it can be a force for either. It is actually a fundamental power of Nature that, like Glinda the Good Witch, can only be underestimated at your peril.” ~ Dark Sentiments Season 1 – Day 28

The personification of death spans cultures in all times and places. In some, the portfolio falls to a God, while others assign it to a specific supernatural character. Whichever or whatever does the deed, the task isn’t the actual bringing of death to mortal beings because that is preordained from the beginning, but rather to appear at the moment of Truth to lead the doomed  out of this mortal coil. Death, then, is not in itself a “dark sentiment” because every birth comes with one at no extra charge. In itself, it is neither good nor evil, for only the mind of Man can bring either into the world. Everything else falls to Nature, and Her only concern is that things play out as they were meant to be. That being said, there is nobility in living Life well, and the proper mourning of its passing.

Viewed as an entity, the neutrality of Death is a given. It embraces all stations, and all creatures, with absolute equality, and has no role in the timing of its appointments. One might think the Power and Beauty of Life, of Love, might be knowledge irrelevant to Death’s consideration. Tonight’s presentation is a strong argument to the contrary. (more…)