Schemas, scheming and placating ones inner lemming

Frank Schneider as Gregor Samsa, at LaMama Etc., NY green roon.
photo: Sean Sullivan  body paint: Venantius J Pinto

Why is it uncommon for individuals to smile when they encounter another say in workplaces—depressingly, a de facto place of worship one might add in the times we are in. These individuals too often superiors, in positions of leadership and stewardship surely have nothing to lose. Of course, other than running around with some heady confusions written on the slates of their minds. Could it be just perhaps ensconced as they are in the haze of multitasking—that a smile could just cause their day to shatter? Just perhaps. Still, how could one shatter the tool that they are? 

But it appears that humor aids in hiding the extent of scheming resorted to by those who cannot but help themselves deploy their schemes? So could it be that they see a smile as an investment which they’d rather not be flashing around. other than being amiable in those moments when standing face-to-face. A self-hypnotic sleight in a compendium of mind-numbing states. And to add to the above, being highly aware is a quality very much in their pouch of talents! So I am all confused then. Do spare me any further ignominy.

Awesoming is the new Auming ॐing

Awesome, said one of them and promptly proceeded to toast my gray matter. Once again the synapses held. It must be that I am now better able to parry their thrusts. Indeed, being the ward that I am of some very old souls, I must not come across as complaining. 

While so many hope to have a job, and others struggle to hold  theirs—individuals who lack personhood, redolent as a swarm of locusts keep lacerating even the more grounded sensibilities, by diminishing anything brought to the commons: talent, skills, virtues, even respect. Thereby they satiate their bloodlust, acquire their pound of flesh! A win in their minds, a high of their senses. Well, you get to pick up your pieces, dust off yourself, and hope for a quieter span of time.

They could well have been saying Aum [ ॐ ]—welcome to the Gods, when saying Awesome/ Awesum, to mean in my parlance: welcome to us Goaders. We cannot help but want to know whether we hurt you enough. Goad comes from the Old English word gád, and was first recorded in 725 CE as the word “gaad.” Of Peace-Weavers (from Old English freodu-webbe) there are fewer and fewer of them. Beowulf anyone? 

So, should I keep cherishing the thought of meeting a Brünhilde? A Gudrun perhaps, or should I perfect suffering fools gladly? 

photo: Cecilia Castelino

Figuring out the Figureheads

Detail of Biomorphic Déjà vu

Much like the mermaid and merman figureheads built into bows of sailing vessels of the past, their contemporaneous titular counterparts do not benefact in procellous navigation. They are a cadre of overseers marking time for their workforce. 

Any analogy to storm petrels would be as though one had become sightless. Along with the titles, and possibly enviable remuneration packages, their blank eyes know at what length to behold those in their charge. One cannot speak truth to them, other than remembering that they shape it.

By virtue of being possessed, and as also possessing an exoticism redolent in seraglios of the past, they truly are akin to janissaries, and odalisques—creatures clearly beholden to their overlords, delivering and prevailing over those they oversee.

At times some being or ones demeanor may elicit a surprise in them, but they will not revel in the sensation lest their own being and natures rebel against them. It has to do with having a strange sense of their own abstraction—and ostensibly with a close eye on their gains and their perches. Any movement that arises within their core upon encountering new knowledge renders a shock—the revelation that this other has been formed differently. One may presume they are snug in having their vibes of feeling entitled!

Frontline charmers; splendid Kafkaesque gatekeepers; tight lipped they sit, wearily raising their heads, fanning your presence with wan smiles. There is a quiet sordidness to their being, and its true that beauty can dislodge ones focus. The only option is to hold on, develop and with every struggle gain ground, that one may only hope to hold on to.