Donald Traxler's Poetry

Friday, January 22, 2021

He Stands on a Beach

He stands on a beach

that is no beach,

in the light of a sun

that is no sun,

where space has no reach,

and time, there is none.

Thursday, January 21, 2021

As we continue reading the Prologue, many more rabbinical characters are introduced: Rab Hamnuna the Venerable, R. Yudai, R. Hiya, R. Jose, R. Eleazar (son of R. Simeon), R. Abba, Rabbi Simeon the son of Lakunya, R. Phineas, and possibly more that I have missed.

Each of these Rabbis gives one or more expositions of biblical verses. These expositions are exceedingly fanciful, and they themselves tend to become stories, so that the whole Prologue is a kind of Canterbury Tales of biblical exegesis.

I wanted to skip some of these fanciful expositions to get sooner to the end of the Prologue, but they have their charm and their magic, and I had to read every one of them.

It is well that I did, because on page 57 of my Soncino edition (13b of the Mantua edition), I found something quite interesting: a reference to the "slender stroke underneath the Yod" in the Divine Name. This, of course, would only be present in a pointed Hebrew text. The masoretes did most of their work between about 600 and 800 CE, at which time pointed biblical texts came into prominence. This reference to pointing would have been anachronistic in the early centuries CE, supposedly the time when Simeon ben Yohai lived. We can be sure, therefore that this Prologue is of medieval origin.

The Prologue ends quite abruptly and without warning, as though the author had had a heart attack and died. My theory is that the Prologue was written after the rest of the Zohar, and that the author died before he could finish it. If the author was Mosés de León, we know that his wife outlived him.

Quatrains of St. Jerome III - Truth-wagon (The Chariot)

Our truth-wagon is bogged down

in a fetid swamp

where lies abound

and credulous Fox-pups hunt the hounds.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

"Who Are You?"

Chidaananda.

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

If the Physical Is a School

Monday, January 18, 2021

Consciousness Is Not Dependent

104,000 Visits, One Rash, and One Failed Coup

Today we are passing the milestone of 104,000 visits to this poetry, writing, and photography blog. Thank you all (even the pirates) for making that happen. The graphic below shows the sources of the visits in the last twenty-four hours. I'm not sure what it means.

As most of you know, I am a nudist/naturist. On January 5th I had a very busy day outside the house, and wore clothes all day, and kept them on between tasks, to avoid taking them off and putting them back on. Unfortunately, the clothes also chafed badly. The result was a painful groin rash, which I am still treating. If this sounds like nothing to you, you should try it some time, in Florida's humidity. Do not tell me that I have to wear clothes. In this climate, clothes are my enemy. Don't be shocked when you see me in my natural, everyday state.

On the following day, January 6th, we had an attempted coup d'état in the United States of America, instigated by our outgoing President. Sounds like a third-world country, doesn't it? That story is far from over, but I can tell you that it has not been an easy time.

As usual, thanks to all of you for your continued interest and enthusiasm.