Volume 2. Chapter 10. Extremes

Bottom

The bottom is as low as we go, a source of foolish humor since it’s bad enough to be good. Shakespeare’s Bottom is affable weaver but an atrocious actor. Oberon and Puck give Bottom the head of an ass and make Titania fall in love with him. Any person’s fantasy might be good enough to be bad but art helps correct that.

Scattered houses

Houses scattered through the woods are scattered among the leaves. Leaves obscure each house, in part, but not, as whole, leave essential out. The mind assumes normal structures, so that gates align with doors and foundations that aren’t visible are settled in the ground.

Individual

Deviations from the horizontal can make an individual. Otherwise, changes of color could do it, or different gray tones as on a black and white TV. What curve suggests intelligence, or gender, anxiety, or fear? An individual expresses differences, but we supply the meanings by way of explaining them.

Princess of Araby

Her veil cannot disguise her eyes, her eyes that sparkle like fine gems. Intricate prints on her rich silks surely give away her silent designs. Only she can draw a scarf across a face with such finesse.

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