borges (dreamtigers) 8/24/1899

© f. scianna. i always loved this photo of borges by scianna, even if i couldn't wrap my head around all of what he said i felt it and certain things stay with you if they need to stay with you, however minute or out of context. words are words; you give them meaning if you want to. one of his many areas of expertise was metaphor, and one of his many beautiful traits was overwhelming but sincere humility. to hear him speak about poets is humbling in its directness - there are maybe 2 or 3 greats, he says. fact. but if he had little to "contribute" to the cannon of metaphor it was because he agreed that in this life there are a few certainties, and looking at them through metaphor and poetry was perhaps where magic, meaning, and beauty came to cohabit - - sleep/death, women/flowers, life/rivers, fire/battle, etc. etc. etc...what else is there? one of his favorite along these lines was: "she walks in beauty like the night," maybe for its complexity, in just 7 (english) words, 4 of them being/meaning everything (she, walks, beauty, night). a grandfather like this wouldn't have been so bad...! i heard a recording of a lecture he gave once - not one "um," "like," or "soooo" - he was speaking the most perfectly paced english i have ever heard, and everything from memory...i imagine, then, a lecture he might have given with an argentinian lilt to be the closest thing to god, or at least to any i'd ever want to listen or look to, for anything and everything...