I finished your transcription, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed your insight and the nature of your writing. You've given me much to ponder on in my own endeavors and will keep you very much in mind. Please do keep writing.
Dear Robert, happy with your letters that reached me, unhappy with my postponing of reply, I just heard a verse of a poem and now forward the whole thing to you. Julia
September 1, 1939 (title) W. H. Auden
I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire Of a low dishonest decade: Waves of anger and fear Circulate over the bright And darkened lands of the earth, Obsessing our private lives; The unmentionable odour of death Offends the September night.
Accurate scholarship can Unearth the whole offence From Luther until now That has driven a culture mad, Find what occurred at Linz, What huge imago made A psychopathic god: I and the public know What all schoolchildren learn, Those to whom evil is done Do evil in return.
Exiled Thucydides knew All that a speech can say About Democracy, And what dictators do, The elderly rubbish they talk To an apathetic grave; Analysed all in his book, The enlightenment driven away, The habit-forming pain, Mismanagement and grief: We must suffer them all again.
Into this neutral air Where blind skyscrapers use Their full height to proclaim The strength of Collective Man, Each language pours its vain Competitive excuse: But who can live for long In an euphoric dream; Out of the mirror they stare, Imperialism's face And the international wrong.
Faces along the bar Cling to their average day: The lights must never go out, The music must always play, All the conventions conspire To make this fort assume The furniture of home; Lest we should see where we are, Lost in a haunted wood, Children afraid of the night Who have never been happy or good.
The windiest militant trash Important Persons shout Is not so crude as our wish: What mad Nijinsky wrote About Diaghilev Is true of the normal heart; For the error bred in the bone Of each woman and each man Craves what it cannot have, Not universal love But to be loved alone.
From the conservative dark Into the ethical life The dense commuters come, Repeating their morning vow; "I will be true to the wife, I'll concentrate more on my work," And helpless governors wake To resume their compulsory game: Who can release them now, Who can reach the deaf, Who can speak for the dumb?
All I have is a voice To undo the folded lie, The romantic lie in the brain Of the sensual man-in-the-street And the lie of Authority Whose buildings grope the sky: There is no such thing as the State And no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die.
Defenceless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages: May I, composed like them Of Eros and of dust, Beleaguered by the same Negation and despair, Show an affirming flame.
Hi Russ and thank you Kae and everyone who helps with this program. Russ I will write you soon, tried to set up a video call again today. You sound great and solid. - Chuck
As a man who has sat with the dying, I can attest to the emotional strain the experience of death brings to the living. In an infirmary situation, there is often the mentally-ill, housed with the infirm and those suffering from disease, creating a situation of chaos and noise. A sense of reverence or humility is impossible and sometimes the unthinkable happens, inmate-on-inmate human cruelty or inhumane staff treatment.
On September 29, 2022 Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 960. Assembly Bill 960 would expand eligibility for compassionate release, streamline the approval process, and automatically provide legal counsel for the infirm and dying. The bill changes the eligibility standard for release from the number of months that someone has left, to a wider standard: the of having an incurable condition or an “end-of-life” trajectory. Furthermore, the bill speeds the timeline for compassionate release, requiring the CDCR to refer a case to the courts no more than 45 days after the patient’s physician triggers the compassionate release process. It also changes the standard for the courts in favor of that release, unless the patient can be deemed a risk to public safety. Importantly, the bill removes completely the CDCR secretary from the approval process altogether, an impediment to an extremely high percentage of denials in the past few years.
Each U.S. State should be so blessed as to have such considerate legislation.
This bill was signed after your posting Robert. I can pray that your physician's inside will understand and facilitate the compassionate release of those you point to as worthy of the same. It is time for Americans to stand for what is right and question the prison state that is paid by taxpayer dollars. Moreover, "we should care," because as Christians and Americans, we stand for the dignity of human life which includes the right to die with dignity.
RSS
William A. Remas
aremas@aol.com
September 1, 1939 (title)
W. H. Auden
I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz,
What huge imago made
A psychopathic god:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
To an apathetic grave;
Analysed all in his book,
The enlightenment driven away,
The habit-forming pain,
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again.
Into this neutral air
Where blind skyscrapers use
Their full height to proclaim
The strength of Collective Man,
Each language pours its vain
Competitive excuse:
But who can live for long
In an euphoric dream;
Out of the mirror they stare,
Imperialism's face
And the international wrong.
Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play,
All the conventions conspire
To make this fort assume
The furniture of home;
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.
The windiest militant trash
Important Persons shout
Is not so crude as our wish:
What mad Nijinsky wrote
About Diaghilev
Is true of the normal heart;
For the error bred in the bone
Of each woman and each man
Craves what it cannot have,
Not universal love
But to be loved alone.
From the conservative dark
Into the ethical life
The dense commuters come,
Repeating their morning vow;
"I will be true to the wife,
I'll concentrate more on my work,"
And helpless governors wake
To resume their compulsory game:
Who can release them now,
Who can reach the deaf,
Who can speak for the dumb?
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
can we write to you at Taylor Correctional Institution 8501 Hampton Springs Rd Perry Florida 32348 USA???
I hope so.
Fede
On September 29, 2022 Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 960. Assembly Bill 960 would expand eligibility for compassionate release, streamline the approval process, and automatically provide legal counsel for the infirm and dying. The bill changes the eligibility standard for release from the number of months that someone has left, to a wider standard: the of having an incurable condition or an “end-of-life” trajectory. Furthermore, the bill speeds the timeline for compassionate release, requiring the CDCR to refer a case to the courts no more than 45 days after the patient’s physician triggers the compassionate release process. It also changes the standard for the courts in favor of that release, unless the patient can be deemed a risk to public safety. Importantly, the bill removes completely the CDCR secretary from the approval process altogether, an impediment to an extremely high percentage of denials in the past few years.
Each U.S. State should be so blessed as to have such considerate legislation.
This bill was signed after your posting Robert. I can pray that your physician's inside will understand and facilitate the compassionate release of those you point to as worthy of the same. It is time for Americans to stand for what is right and question the prison state that is paid by taxpayer dollars. Moreover, "we should care," because as Christians and Americans, we stand for the dignity of human life which includes the right to die with dignity.