ELEVATION
Farther than the sun, the distant breeze, The spheres that wilt to infinity
Somewhere in Northern California.
Another favorite from Baudelaire. This one makes me want to travel somewhere distant and unfamiliar, find something huge and hidden to ride, and eat with close friends under the stars in wide open spaces.
Elevation
by Charles Baudelaire
Translated by William A. Sigler
Above the ponds, beyond the valleys,
The woods, the mountains, the clouds, the seas,
Farther than the sun, the distant breeze,
The spheres that wilt to infinity
My spirit, you move with agility
And, like a good swimmer who swoons in the wave
You groove the depths immensity gave,
The inexpressible and male ecstasy.
>From this miasma of waste,
You will be purified in superior air
And drink a pure and divine liqueur,
A clear fire to replace the limpid space
Behind this boredom and fatigue, this vast chagrin
Whose weight moves the mists of existence,
Happy is he who vigorously fans the senses
Toward serene and luminous fields—wincing!
The one whose thoughts are like skylarks taken wing
Across the heavens mornings in full flight
—Who hovers over life, understanding without effort
The language of flowers and mute things.
OR THE SWIMMING
From the always killer Brain Pickings, sage thoughts on being yourself by Hunter S. Thompson.
“The answer—and, in a sense, the tragedy of life—is that we seek to understand the goal and not the man.”//Hunter S. Thompson
Devour Heaven
We fly. We dream in darkness. We devour heaven in bites too small to be measured. // Rebecca Solnit
“We fly, we dream in darkness, we devour heaven in bites too small to be measured”
// Rebecca Solnit, A Field Guide to Getting Lost
