The Explanation
(for those who require one)

And, of course, that is what all of this is -- all of this: the one song, ever changing, ever reincarnated, that speaks somehow from and to and for that which is ineffable within us and without us, that is both prayer and deliverance, folly and wisdom, that inspires us to dance or smile or simply to go on, senselessly, incomprehensibly, beatifically, in the face of mortality and the truth that our lives are more ill-writ, ill-rhymed and fleeting than any song, except perhaps those songs -- that song, endlesly reincarnated -- born of that truth, be it the moon and June of that truth, or the wordless blue moan, or the rotgut or the elegant poetry of it. That nameless black-hulled ship of Ulysses, that long black train, that Terraplane, that mystery train, that Rocket '88', that Buick 6 -- same journey, same miracle, same end and endlessness."
-- Nick Tosches, Where Dead Voices Gather

Aftermath: U.S.A. #1


Original Caption:

New York -- After sleeping for three weeks in the subway, the family of arthritis-ridden army veteran Robert Lipsky has taken up quarters in the lobby of the New York Housing Authority on Park Row. Lipsky himself is shown at left sleeping in a chair, while two children sleep on a desk. Mrs. Lipsky and another son, Joel, sleep in telephone booth. Lipsky says he doesn't want charity, "I only want a place so my children can live normally." (1950)
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2 comments:

R.H. said...

Scandalous.

August 31, 2008 10:36 AM
John said...

Plus ça change...

September 02, 2008 1:15 PM

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