Comments on: Becoming animal https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/ Purveyors of fine poetry since 2003. Fri, 26 May 2006 12:01:35 +0000 hourly 1 By: Natalie https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-777 Fri, 26 May 2006 12:01:35 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-777 Exactly, Dale.

Very interesting conversation.

]]> By: dale https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-776 Thu, 25 May 2006 22:27:57 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-776 Natalie wrote: What if “becoming attachedâ€? were really the goal? So deeply attached that one’s identity is only revealed when it can find that to which it can become wholly attached?

I think what you mean by “wholly attached” is precisely the same thing I would mean by “free of attachment” :-) It’s the delusion of self that isolates us from what we love.

The depictions of enlightenment in Tibetan sacred art as sexual union & ecstasy are not just sexy advertising. It’s the best analogy we know.

]]> By: Via Negativa » Blog Archive » Here there be Squirrels https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-775 Wed, 17 May 2006 16:18:50 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-775 […] The porcupine waddles out along a small branch and stands on its hind legs, freeing its forepaws to grab and stuff nearby twigs into its mouth. This reminds of the way the Baltimore oriole that I photographed two weeks ago used one foot to pull leaves in range of its bill. Unlike the porcupine, though, it was interested only on what was on the leaves, not the leaves themselves. […]

]]> By: Dave https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-774 Wed, 10 May 2006 21:03:39 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-774 Thanks, Anne! (In my view, there’s nothing trite about aesthetic appreciation, ever.)

]]> By: Anne https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-773 Wed, 10 May 2006 16:58:36 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-773 this feels a bit trite after so much erudition, but must be said… your image of tent caterpillars is exquisite!

]]> By: Dave https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-772 Tue, 09 May 2006 01:00:17 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-772 Thanks, Peter! She surprised me with that when the page proofs arrived. (Of course, using epigraphs from poets one isn’t related to can sometimes be a very expensive proposition! I didn’t charge her anything.)

]]> By: Peter https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-771 Tue, 09 May 2006 00:55:50 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-771 Make that Appalachian Winter.

]]> By: Peter https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-770 Tue, 09 May 2006 00:54:28 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-770 I’m glad you mentioned “In the Ice Forest.” I read it as the epigraph of your mother’s Appalachian Spring. I thought it was one of your best short poems. A beautiful balance of imagery and poetic observation! The mental state you describe comes across very well in it, I think.

]]> By: Dave https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-769 Mon, 08 May 2006 17:35:15 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-769 By the way, here is the sermon where the Harold Schulweis quote about idolatry originated: Adonai-Elohim: The Two Faces of God. A theodicy that leaves plenty of room for nature and accident.

]]> By: Dave https://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/becoming-animal/#comment-768 Mon, 08 May 2006 11:28:15 +0000 http://www.vianegativa.us/2006/05/05/becoming-animal/#comment-768 That sounds similar to what I think of as “active empathy.” A going-towards – exactly! But I must be more of an animist than you, because I am almost invariably focused on the particularity of the other, and don’t intimate much about Otherness. Many of my best poems have come out of these sorts of experiences – for example, In the Ice Forest, or the one I mentioned in the ampersand post, Grace.

The way I would describe my mental state at such times: integrated into the flow. Detached, yet thoroughly involved. Probably very similar to the place where a martial artist wants to be.

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