I was initially made aware of Milton Acorndue to the twin factors of his excellent name, and also the wikipedia claim that he

“lost his will to live after the death of a younger sister.”

[Milton Acorn Wikipedia]

Milton Acorn

[Photo by @SheldonGrimson]

But more than just that, he was also an excellent poet whose work has a fragile brutality, dragged along by an absurdist sense of humour… Enjoyable:

In the elephant’s five-pound brain
Dwarves have an incredible vicious sincerity,
A persistent will to undo things. The beast cannot grasp
The convolutions of destruction, always his mind
Turns to other things - the vastness of green
And of frangibility of forest. If only once he could descend
To trivialities he’d sweep the whole earth clean of his tormentors
In one sneeze so mighty as to be observed from Mars.

In the elephant’s five-pound brain
Sun and moon are the pieces in a delightfully complex ballgame
That have to do with him…never does he doubt
The sky has opened and rain and thunder descend
For his special ministration. He dreams of mastodons
And mammoths and still his pride beats
Like the heart of the world, he knows he could reach
To the end of space if he stood still and imagined the effort.

[excerpt from The Natural History of Elephants]

Frankly, that should be enough for anyone to go and investigate further.

P.S. I was also recently made aware that Satan once lived in the White House, incarnated as the dog of the Second Lady Abigail Adams

favourite things: an occasional category of post with a sensible name

In terms of blogs, there are very few that I automatically read as soon as a new post turns up in my google reader. a working library is one of these.

Mandy Brown shares the most interesting passages from her current reading, along with her thoughts and observations on life, philosophy, criticism & whatever else. It is by far the most intellectualised thing that turns up in my favourites folder, but always welcome to shift me into a different mental gear.

Recent favourites have been Robin Kinross on typography, Adorno on Marxism and Terry Eagleton on Ideology.

The stimulation of receiving someones thoughts and observations along with key passages as they read fascinating books is brilliant. Short, dense posts with a real weight behind them this is a series of deft punches rather than lectures, and all the better for it.

Thank you