writer in the window

at 

CRANE'S BILL BOOKS

2828 Carlysle NE, Albuquerque NM  830-2514

April 2004

a selection of 

Q&A

Why are love, money and property so closely related to each other?

When you merge and become one with another, all things join that union, from your spouse’s murderous temper to his or her financial worth and every earthly property between. That was natural at first, but the shifting of power from matriarch to patriarch brought it into law. Men had no property rights under the Matriarch’s rule, nor did they have assurance offspring were really theirs, since at the time there was no way to prove a child was anyone’s but the mother's. The law of Marriage put wife, child and holdings under the man’s name. Whether cuckolded or not, the child was heralded as his; if he was poor and the wife wealthy, her money became his. Today marriage has become a legal venture, not a love bond. In the 21st century hand-fastings and civil unions have become preferable options for many as ways of truly pledging commitment and handling property sharing.

What is it that we talk about when we talk about love?

The feeling: of affinity, of attraction. But we load a lot of baggage onto that feeling, and it’s mostly that baggage we talk about when discoursing on love; baggage that includes systems recommended and patterns set by the culture, the religion, the family, the peer group.

What happens when the writer no longer writes, the musician no longer plays and the artist no longer paints? What’s the world like then?

Hopeless. Art is the way we turn shit to roses. If we have no art, we’ll be in deep shit. We’re nearly there.

Why ask why?

Because you want to know the intricate details.

Will we enjoy life or will we destroy it? What’s your take on it all?

Even we can’t destroy life itself. We can, have and will destroy as much of earth life as we need to recreate the world in our image. Well, that’s a specific ‘we’ that rules the fight game. The other nine-tenths of the ‘we’ follow the Vulcans sleepily, pushed by the necessity and entertainment provided by them.

I am grievingly disappointed in the human race we all belong to. It seems to me Spirit, dwelling within each of us, is equally disappointed and frustrated, screaming to get out of each of us by growing new bodies, called cancers, in its fight to escape our decadent form.

That’s my take on it all.

What’s the best thing about Albuquerque? What’s the worst?

The best thing about Albuquerque is cheap rents. The next best thing about Albuquerque is its openness to the arts, especially the uncommercial arts. The worst thing about Albuquerque is its testosterone-laden, superstitious, 20-years-behind-the-times psyche.

Why is this spring so wet?

To curl your hair, green your garden, soften your skin, and give the crows puddles to bathe in.

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