Today is Arbor Day.

Neo here.

I know that quite a few of you were concerned about where Olive would go. I’m happy to say she’s found a home. Gerard’s younger brother, who had stayed in Gerard’s apartment for a while to take care of disposing of Gerard’s things and tying up loose ends, grew very fond of Olive and she of him. (Perhaps Olive could smell the DNA resemblance to Gerard?)

Unfortunately, his brother couldn’t take her to stay with him permanently because someone in his home is highly allergic to cats. But he did manage to find Olive a home only a few minutes away from where he lives, and he has visiting rights.

So I think Olive is all set now.

Neo here.

I want to let you all know that this site, americandigest.org, has been paid up for the next two years. However, I’m letting the newer site, newamericandigest.com, lapse. Most of what’s on there is redundant to posts that are here, plus some people are having trouble canceling their subscriptions.

Gerard worked hard on that site and was very happy with it – and with all the people who signed up – so I thank all of you on his behalf. But although he left instructions to continue the older site (that is, this one) for two years, he didn’t say to do the same for that newer site. Therefore it’s going to be closing in a couple of days, although I don’t know the exact date it will happen. After that, none of you should be charged for it.

I’m still working on those two books of Gerard’s writings, but their publication will take a while. One will be of his essays and one of his poetry. He left somewhat incomplete instructions about the essays he wanted included, and I’ll try to follow what he said plus I may add a few of his essays that I especially like but that he didn’t include. The poetry book is my idea, because so many readers have enjoyed his poetry.

I don’t have a time frame for when the books will come out, but I think in a few months. There’s a fair amount of editing involved, as well as trying to select accompanying photos (probably black and white, because color books are far far more expensive) that aren’t copyrighted. Then of course I have to figure out what publishing platform to use; there are a great great many of them. My thought at the moment is that each book will have an e-book version and a print-to-order hard copy version.

“If I take the wings of the morning,
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea….” — Psalm 139

We rise in a banking curve of morning’s pure velocity
over fallow fields and grids of neighborhoods,
over ponds painted with slick scum oozing
— from the oil pans of countless sunken cars,
— from punctured sacks of toxic trash,
— from fleshless graves of abandoned murders,
of missing persons filed in muck.

We rise embraced by first-class armchairs,
pondering the crisply printed histories
of yesterday’s most meaningless events.
We rise up above our lives and lies,
above, alone, away, alas, good-bye
to families and to friends, to all terrestrial ties.
Our very cellulars, by strict law silenced
so that our murmurs not disturb
the delicate electronics on which so much
at this tremulous moment depends
that we dare not think on it, and so select
music of our choice from mid-heaven’s jukebox.

We rise in the faltering dark
into the pale flicker of a cosseted sun
slatted in flashes through fingers of cloud,
up into the white blood of the sinewed sky,
and so our day and world slips by.

We rise up to where all breath is snow,
so far that all above becomes below,
up until the sky is seen as vapor,
smeared white on blue construction paper
and framed by dark remorseless space.
[continue reading…]