1
"The shore is the site of a metaphysical encounter with distance; that location in which one comes face to face with the Absolute, or Otherness; a symbol, in art and literature, of our dreams, and of our limits..."
But a shore is also a particular place, with a specific ecological history, both separate from and including us humans. The ocean itself is not endless;
Slowly its action now changes as a result of us.
There are plants, and animals, and jellyfish
in the ocean,
and they are not endless.
If I had gills enough to breathe I might know them;
not knowing them, I stand next to them.
If we had gills we might remember them
and stand next to them.
2
The shore is not a symbol. It is not a show. Similarly
Shows are not symbols.
3
Walk along the shallows;
here and there with the moon
you may find a hermit crab, child.
Crabs move sideways
and are not symbols; they are shows
with their diets!
(I hide in my home made by capitalism, watching Discovery, and pride myself on my diet...)
We are grossly and dumbly connected, crab.
You hide in the spirit of capitalism.
4
I am so codependent! Though, now
I (sadly) place "independent" on my tax forms
and voter registration.
I pick up my shells from other places
scuttling along this shiny surface of the tide...
I ride the wave of culture!
I am a Silver Surfer of culture,
a Keanu-Reeves-in-Point-Break-of-culture.
I hide and am a Basho or Gutei of culture,
waiting for you to come
and raise your finger.
I learn from you, and depend on you;
waiting for the magic that will release us back into each other.
I give you the finger.
5
To find the size of home that fits?
A crab is not a symbol
And The Shore makes me love, deep inside.
Even now, we have learned to love
Deep inside of capital.
Scuttling to each new frontier as they rise and shift,
Dutifully abandoning our homes and becoming crabs and travelers
In these luxurious tidal pools of capital.
6
I water my brain with money,
I eat crabs with the money I earn from my brain.
O no! My brain
Is made of capital.
7
Jersey Shore,
Snooki and Vinny,
your specificity takes me back into love.
