Friday, January 15, 2010

I am not kind


At least not in thought. In action I am fairly civilized, ranging from subdued to genial, with only very rare outbursts of mild barbarism.

But in thought, now that's another matter. There the shadow thrives.

As the charming Mr. Menkin put it, "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag* and begin slitting throats."

This week I have found myself musing on individuals and groups, and groups of individuals, who would better serve the planet (sic) by being placed in large burlap bags and dropped into the Bay as the tide was going out.

I find that this is, as they say in linguistics, an agglutinative process. When I finish with one set of deserving victims, it brings to mind another. Is this Freudian free association or Jungian amplification? In any case, the list grows fast.

I will not name names. At least not this morning. But I am thinking unkind thoughts.

*It is odd, at first, that the macabre skull and crossbones image of the pirate flag is called "Jolly Roger". But once you and your shadow imagine how much fun all the throat-slitting could be, well, it does seem pretty jolly.

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