Tuesday, May 30, 2023

On The Origin of The Containment Entity - 8

Youngest Child of the Mistress
Dressed in its Containment Entity

 “Teleology is like a mistress to the biologist; he dare not be seen with her in public but cannot live without her.” —J. B. S. Haldane

Today we take a poetic break from the other containment entity artwork presented in this series (On The Origin of The Containment Entity, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).


Biologist's Ode to The Mistress

"On a morning from a Bogart movieIn a country where they turn back timeYou go strolling through the crowd like Peter LorreContemplating a crime[The mistress] comes out of the sun in a silk dress runningLike a watercolor in the rainDon't bother asking for explanations[The mistress] will just tell you that she cameIn the year of the cat
 
[The mistress] doesn't give you time for questionsAs she locks up your arm in hersAnd you follow 'till your sense of which directionCompletely disappearsBy the blue tiled walls near the market stallsThere's a hidden door she leads you toThese days, she says, I feel my lifeJust like a river running throughThe year of the cat

 While she looks at you so coolyAnd her eyes shine like the moon in the sea[The mistress] comes in incense and patchouliSo you take her, to find what's waiting insideThe year of the cat
 
Well morning comes and you're still with [The mistress]And the bus and the tourists are goneAnd you've thrown away your choice you've lost your ticketSo you have to stay onBut the drum-beat strains of the night remainIn the rhythm of the newborn dayYou know sometime you're bound to leave herBut for now you're going to stayIn the year of the cat"

Year of the Cat [emphasis added]

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.