A reader at AD named Jennifer Clayton sent me a poem of Gerard’s that she has set to music: “Only By Fire Is Fascism Finished.” I have her permission to post it here. I think it’s very fine.
NOTE: This post can also function as an open thread.
Next post: Open thread 2/20/23
Previous post: Open thread 2/15/23
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of
universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I
reach my hands and play with pebbles of
destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs
reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive
in the universe.
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
This is beautiful. I will go so far as to say it is precious. Would you please put the lyrics below the “NOTE” because there are spots where the beautiful music drowns out the heavenly voice.
Only By Fire is Fascism Finished
by VANDERLEUN on AUGUST 5, 2017
“Vietnam—this wretched unfashionable war led by clumsy Presidents from the West and fought by the nineteen-year-old sons of the poor—could not be disowned by a favored enlightened few hiding behind college deferments, fleeing to chaste cool countries, snootily pouring pig blood into draft files, writing unctuous peacenik Notes and Comments, and otherwise pretending that our great nation hadn’t had bloody hands from the start, that every generation didn’t have its war, that bloody hands didn’t go with having hands at all.” John Updike: On Not Being a Dove
Year upon year in this world’s dark forests,
Heaped at the foot of the trees,
The tangles and bundles of dead brush increase
Which sunlight shall never seize.
The vampire by sunlight or stake.
The wolfman by silver in bone.
The demon by book, chant and pentagram.
The fascist by fire alone.
The ash that descends in the clearest of skies?
The leapers that swam down the stones?
Best answered by bombs from mid-heaven at prayer
With the fire that hollows the bones.
The vampire by sunlight or stake.
The wolfman by silver in bone.
The demon by book, chant and pentagram.
The fascist by fire alone.
If their god decrees war, God’s war shall prevail.
His lessons are seared in the stone.
No dreams shall defer, nor wishes erase,
The answer that’s burned in the bone.
The vampire by sunlight or stake.
The wolfman by silver in bone.
The demon by book, chant and pentagram.
The fascist by fire alone.
Only by fire is fascism finished.
This sin is demanded that your line may live.
Only through fire is freedom reborn.
Each generation pulls the sword from the stone.
Ghostsniper,
Thank you. Joe Krill
ghostsniper,
You asked earlier about my new mattress, which was delivered yesterday, and it’s a peach.
https://www.macys.com/shop/product/serta-perfect-sleeper-luminous-sleep-17.5-medium-firm-pillow-top-mattress-twin?ID=11997638&CategoryID=27760&sizes=MATTRESS_TYPE|BED_SIZE_T!!Pillow%20Top|Twin
60 years of living with Polio have taught me a lot about what will help my back; being a poor musician has taught me a lot about how to achieve acceptable results in the most frugal manner. This bed project has been sheer self-indulgence, and boy was it worth it. I lay down on the new mattress to check it out yesterday and woke up from a sound sleep 2 hours later without having moved a muscle.
It’s a great match for the MyPillow I sleep on.
Best
Hey Rob, thanks!
Man, that’s a lot of coin for a rack, even with the discount.
Wed a week ago I injured my lower back while, get this, making the dam bed.
I hit the floor and laid there for a bit, the pain was unbearable.
Then, the next day I did it again while sitting the dog bowl on the floor.
Now I was in real trouble.
Since then, and still, I am in dire shape, just shifting in my chair is excruciating, but with each passing day gets microscopically better. Our bedroom is on the 2nd floor but I have been sleeping on the couch because of, stairs. Left hip sacroiliac joint won’t allow it. As BillH says, “Gettin’ old ain’t for sissy’s.”
Today is our 39th anniv and my wife had plans but none of it is going to happen. Maybe next weekend, I hope. Thanks again Rob.
Ghost –
SI Joint pain is the worst! This might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu2qB1d_MKE
Franklin has helped a lot of people.
Thanks Walt, I’ll check it out.
Ghost: ” Man, that’s a lot of coin for a rack, even with the discount.”
Better than a root canal which costs a little more. There is relief in both but
more appreciation for a mattress, I think. So sorry you are having back problems.
Thank you ghost-
Haunting and poignant.
Open Thread: after wracking my brain for days I decided Biden, Inc., was gaslighting us with the balloons. Turns our yesterday he stated officially that they were just civilian weather balloons, and I saw an article about this group of boys who resembled a Boy Scout Troop or Post, who were missing a balloon in Alaska.
CYA is an army acronym for Cover Your Ass. Protect yourself from blame (and wear that as shame, because your actual job is to take responsibility). Biden allowed the Xhinese Spies to traverse the US, in a failure reminiscent of his debacle in Kabul. Instead of accepting responsibility, he ordered the USAF to shoot down anything that moved as a distraction.
I’m pissed.
Just think, it’s only mid-Feb.
A whole lotta year left for even more fuk-ups.
All of this resulting from a stolen election.
Not to mention, in addition to the “fuk-ups,” another layer of lies upon lies, obfuscations, and no one will go to jail nor suffer any consequences. The U.S. is not a government for and by the people, it is a get rich quick club, and it’s your (our) money upon which these cretins get rich.
Looks like I’ll need to make a FuckUps Bingo Card for 2023 and keep score. It may be the only way to stay halfway sane going forward.
“…get rich quick club,” true, but they do it on the coattails of the sacred honor of these boys flying the F-16s and F-22s. Then Biden gaslights you about his boy who died and tries to make it look like he died in Iraq. If some guy did that to my face I’d have this thought balloon over my head where I’m burning him at the stake.
I think the balloons are more “look SQUIRREL “ and a diversion.
From what ?
Therein lies the real question.
I still miss him.
I do too and no doubt will for a long time.
azlib,
I just received the link below by a family member who is much more up to speed on the subject than myself.
https://welovetrump.com/2023/02/18/oops-pilot-accidentally-turns-on-chemtrail-sprayer-while-on-the-ground/
Sir, If you are not locked down by the left, you can find volumes of information on the subject of atmospheric chemical dispersion being run by dot gov.
My late father was a WW-2 combat pilot and later a C*A contract aviator. He discussed the subject of “chem-trails” being used to control weather patterns, shade out sunlight, and poison crops and on, and on. This past Friday for at least 24 hours, we here in central eastern ID were under crisscrossing chemical spraying as seen in the video linked.
Water vapor dissipates and disappears to ground viewers relatively rapidly. Chemicals/particle sprays do not disappear to ground viewers, but spread over time. Sometimes over hours.
All that is dot gov is not for the good. Take your time and do your research. Then, after you gain some information on the subject, get back to us. There are several regular commenters here at AD that are well schooled in the subject at hand.
I am not intent to be disrespectful. I was an eye witness to the slaughter of citizens of Cambodia by their own dot gov in 1962.
Thank you, Ghost, for posting the lyrics. Jennifer’s song IS “very fine”
I’m a little younger than you but have had debilitating, life-effecting back pain for over a decade, if not really the past three decades. I’ll just write some things down in a stream of consciousness that I’ve found work. BTW my wife is a retried ARNP so there is a high order of medical knowledge in my house.
Overlap Ibu and Tyl. all day up to the limit of dosage. I also take a Rx muscle relaxer when needed but it ruins me the next day.
Make a hot pack in the microwave using a damp towel in a zip lock bag and wrapped in a towel. Here’s the thing: make it so fukn hot you almost can’t touch it, and lay down on it right on your spine or whatever part hurts. Repeat as necessary; ask the wife to make it and bring it.
After an injury, I don’t pick up anything off the floor. I medical profile my activities and homey don’t bend over for no reason ever. No sense having the pain – it is contraindicated to have the painful movement. Bring needed things up onto counters or chairs and do smart things like back the chair up to a wall to put on one’s shoes or socks. I bought a high-end grabber or two to pick up stuff on the floor, and I use a long handled shoe horn.
Get well soon.
You realize you have back problems when you drop a quarter on the ground attempting to buy a bottle of water from a vending machine and stand there staring at it and thinking “That’s my last quarter, but do I really need that water?”
I had a back doctor in Elementary School. These days I had to shop around for a conservative for a physical therapist because I was going to be spending so much time on the table listening to him.
Found one!
I’ve got a twenty year old memory foam mattress, is it time to try something new?
https://americandigest.org/fire-fascism-finished-2/
Gerard re-posted his Facist By Fire poem in 7/4/22. I drew on that version for the lyric. I’m comforted by the comment thread and am reminded of his great humility. He proved a kindred spirit to his readers.
I will keep missing him for a long long while.
Heart hurts.
Young Lady;
You have been blessed with a beautiful voice.
Speaking of talents like Gerard and Jennifer, this…
Yesterday I go caught up with the group of old timers who used to draw life models in the city once a week, until the lockdown. I never refer to it as “the pandemic,” but use “the lockdown” to bring focus on what actually occurred. It was an emotional reunion and I was glad to see those kindred souls.
This morning I’m watching Mark Steyn on the subject of medical fascism (on topic). I well recall befriending the battalion Physician’s Assistant in my NG unit headquarters, in the 80s. That was a million years back in time. He said a thing one time that I’ll never forget: he described how he had the authority to depose even the battalion commander himself for medical reason. Doctors and medicos (my wife held the same status as this PA, in civilian life) can be very easily moulded into fascist authoritarians. Given the right mindset (greed and hubris), they will lock your ass in a camp, and weld shut the door, for the price of a pair of new shoes. And they’ll be delighted to do so.
When will I begin traveling again? In the back of my mind, the answer is something like: “when the bureaucrats, politicians, and officials forget the terrible authority they were handed by this devil state”. When they fear the people who they boxed up and abused for 2.5 years. By fire.
Have a nice Sunday.
Thank you Joe Krill. Blessed by Creator God, the very same one that blessed our poet friend and continues to bless his AD legacy of earnest truth seeking friends. Blessed by your encouragement. Blessed by Neo’s care and kindness. In such good company.
Hope abounds.
I had the exact same initial reaction as JK ..”What a lovely voice.”
And that was even before you started singing!!
“Something Wonderful”
This reminds me of Gerard and how I choose to remember him:
Shakespeares Sonnet 30
https://www.thefp.com/p/introducing-a-sunday-series-from?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Nice, Foodawg. Thank you for the site. Love the reading.
Thank you for the link Foodawg that was so moving.
What a great setting for a great poem.
Jennifer Clayton, you knocked it out of the park.
JWM
The beat goes on.
Thank you Foodawg for thefp –
more balm for the grieving,
and for the woe whoa of TheBard’s 30
and how Pasternak defies tyranny with the sonnet learnt by heart.
Gerard, beloved publisher, gifts an open living thread, peopled by kindred spirits and others, freeing the press.
Alas why lurked I so long?
Please listen to 18, a sonnet that chased Gerard’s Sundress Nationalism in the sweet dawn of this past November. Mine it for Miss Dickinson’s Tell All The Truth But Tell It Slant
How I hope you’ll listen. These songs were afraid to come out. Thank you for encouragement.
I’ll not be a monster, nor a stranger!
https://americandigest.org/members/
For love,
Jen
Thank you for posting this link, Jen. I never gave it enough attention last
November.
There is still time to write to the Supreme Court regarding the Brunson Case. It is possible to have that whole sham of a s-election done away with along with those who did not do their Duty…