A little French

Literature is the only reason to turn to the past for comfort.

"There is a justice, but we do not always see it. Discreet, smiling, it is there, at one side, a little behind injustice, which makes a big noise." (from The Journal of Jules Renard).

I recall Cid Corman quoting Flaubert many years ago in a letter he wrote me: "hope is the great alleviator." I puzzled over the statement for many years, from the Bush adminstration through Obama, trying to apply Flaubert to the present time.

I'm still not sure about the Flaubert, though the statement makes a sort of sense when I try to interpret the political moment and what's led up to it.

I think we've bottomed out, I'm pretty sure. I'm as tired of thinking about it as you are, but in a very certain way it's all I think about. Maybe you're not tired, maybe you're energized by the news, more power to you, really.

I know I need a new attitude but I really don't want one, I feel the attitude I have at the moment is good enough to get me through this appallingly delightful time.