Search

kafkaestblog

It is a whirlwind in here

Author

Dale Estey

I owe my life to Hitler, though I never met the man. My father was paid to stop Hitler, so there is no conflict of interest. I was given a thunk on the back o' the head by God when I was fifteen, and within a week began to write. I haven't stopped. My first novel was accepted 'over the transom'. My first editor/author luncheon in New York included a naked man with roller skates at the next table. For the sake of research I have lain on Kafka's grave, but I did not weep. I wish upon my own gravestone the phrase "Thank God He Didn't Die A Virgin". There is truth in every truth - so watch out. My published novels include the popular fantasy A Lost Tale and the thriller The Bonner Deception. I also have two editions of humorous and spiritual short stories, The Elephant Talks to God, which are appreciated by both young and old. My manuscripts range from stories about unicorns and druids in the 'Passing Through Trilogy' to the 9/11 destruction of New York. I have filled in the missing diaries of Franz Kafka; recounted the first person dementia of a serial killer; explored the outrageous lifestyle of the famous; and listened in while an elephant and God converse. I currently switch my attention between the saga of a family of onion farmers, from Fourth century Italy to the present day, and a contemporary NATO thriller. I live in Canada and make Nova Scotia my home. I prefer to travel by train, but embrace the computer age with passion. I am always on the hunt for unique onion recipes.

What Do We Make Of World Theatre Day?

The stage

Is as bare as my lady’s ass

In his lordship’s bedchamber.

Rough-hewn

In the most knockabout way,

Leaving splinters

In the palace lawns of the imagination.

There’s many a dip ‘twixt the trap and the lip.

It fares little better

Than hastily strewn boards

Covering parched ground,

With barely enough elevation

To keep the understanding masses at bay.

Were one fool enough

To come from out the wings,

And at centre front

Begin a soliloquy about the beauty

Of the wretched arena on which he stands,

To fight the resulting

And justified

Spontaneous combustion,

There would not be found one drop of piss

From any a Thespian’s hose.

For who,

Could allow

This sacrilege to be spoken?

Even the flag atop the pole knows

The magic is not yet arrived.

A stage without commercial trappings:

without solid doors and thick drapes;

uncluttered by pillars and arches,

tables and chairs,

windows and fireplaces;

sans orchestra,

sans balcony,

sans pit.

A stage revealing all its secrets.

Profound as emptiness.

A stage in wait.

For in this world writ small

– as in the globe around –

the audience has nothing to know,

nothing to learn,

until the actor makes an entrance,

prepares to fight past our eyes

to battle with those thoughts

and fears

which lurk in sheltered halls.

What’s Hecuba to him?

Why – nothing.

Merely a name in a script,

A cue at which to turn his profile thus.

It is what Hecuba becomes to we who wait,

that turns the key upon the heavy gate.

~DE BA. UE

What Is The First Day Of Spring?

Of course, it is the 21st of March. 

To fuss about with the restrictions of time and space and equatorial crossings is as pointless (and heartless) as using AI whilst writing about the First Day of Spring.


Someone please break into a chorus of “TRADITION”!

DE

It’s Saint Patrick’s Day On Partridge Island, And Will Sister Darling Brings Stew?

Paw, my cat/kitten,

Black as the Ides of March


With one white mitten,

Has a green ribbon


Tied around his neck,

As we stand on the dock


And welcome the arrival of Sister Darling,

Of The Rarefied Church of the World (reformed)

On this Saint Patrick’s Day,


She steps off the fishing boat,

And unceremoniously hands me


A hefty cauldron,

As she scoops up Paw


And holds him close, the way


(I trust)

She will eventually hold me.


“Irish stew,” says she.

But I didn’t even have to guess,


For I can recite, by smell,

The ingredients.


Lamb on the bone

Carrots/celery

onions/leeks/garlic

Bay leaf/sea salt/black pepper

Lots of potatoes

And two (I hope) pints of ale.

“You are right,” she says


As Paw snuggles into her hair,

“And you will get

A Reward.”

I’m The Lighthouse Poet Laureate of Partridge Island /1821 – 2026/ A lot of stuff have I seen / A lot of stuff to report}

DE BA. UEL

I Am Full Like The Moon

Paw, the cat/kitten,

Black as a sky night

With one white mitten,

Was up yesterday morning

And saw the waxing gibbous moon. 


The moon – of course – affects Paw,

As it does all the animals

(Including us).


But Paw,

A persnickety little bugger 

At the best of times,

Seems to take umbrage

With the moon,

Or 

At the moon,

When it grows (and glows)

To its full height and size.


Paw,

Being a cat,

Does not howl at the moon,

But he spits,

And hisses,

And growls,

And goes “Itititititititit”,

And makes himself quite a nuisance.

He will get the crazies,

And dash back and forth

From window, to door,

To window.


I’d let him out (I swear, just to be quit of him),

But I have no guarantee

– None at all –

That he would come back,

And I’d miss the little bugger.

[That’s the truth]


I bundle him firmly

(So I won’t get lacerated),

And carry him up 

To the lantern room

At the top of the lighthouse.

I let him loose.


I’ll find him in the morning,

Finally asleep, 

But still, occasionally,

Muttering “Itititititititit” to himself,

While he dreams. 

I’m The Lighthouse Poet Laureate of Partridge Island /1821 – 2026 / A lot of stuff have I seen / A lot of stuff to report}

Does Friday 13th Work It’s Christian Magic On Kafka?

fridaythe13th

In my novel, Kafka In The Castle, I fill in missing entries of his actual diaries.  There are many days to fill, as he either did not write during these days, or he destroyed the record.

I do give him a brief recognition of Friday 13th. Kafka was not a superstitious person, and such things weighed on him lightly.

In reality, memories of the Swiss Girl he mentions (a teen he met and probably “embraced”) haunted him all his life. But pleasantly – oh, so pleasantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

13 April 1917

I almost wrote down the year as 1913. That was the year I met the Swiss girl. And I remember her joking about Friday the thirteenth, and how we had missed it by just a day. She was superstitious – Christians seem to be. I wonder what precautions she is taking today. It will be three years and seven months since I saw her. Yet some of the things we did could have happened last week. I think that memory must be made of rubber.  You can sometimes pull it toward yourself – and sometimes it snaps away like a shot. Causing as much pain.

(image)https://www.playhugelottos.com/uploads/assets/news/PlayHuge/Fridaythe13th.jpg

What Do We Discover When James Bond Interviews Hamlet?

Q: To be or not to be?
A:  Who asketh the query?
Q: Bond – James Bond.
A: Sound and fury, it seems to me.
Q: They say you’re a talker – is that true?
A: More of a thinker.
Q: Then a doer?
A: I put many acts in play.
Q: The power behind the throne?
A: When the throne is rotten.
Q:  So, do you dither?
A:  Whilst thou hither.
Q: What is your wish?
A: To whisper in your ear.
Q: To tell me what?
A: Fear not, it won’t be poisonous.
Q:  Will it be a secret?
A:  More likely than not.
Q: In my line of work, secrets are Death.
A:  You deal with Kings and Queens?
Q: I’m on Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
A: A double life is a double sword is a double bind.
Q: How do you know that?
A:  I write plays.
Q: And tell the truth?
A: My word is my bond.

DE BA UEL

Are You Enjoying The Ride With Kafka And Trump?

11 Year Anniversary Achievement

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

You registered on WordPress.com 11 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

Kafka Has A Dream And Then Ponders His Life

In Kafka In The Castle, I fill in the ‘missing’ diary entries from Kafka’s real diary. He either did not fill in these days himself, or he destroyed them. There are some estimates that Kafka destroyed 70% – 80% of everything he wrote.
*********************************

15 January 1917

Dreamed that I never dream.

“That can’t be true,” said AB, dropping the papers she held. “Everybody dreams.”

 “It never happens to me,” I insisted. “And what’s more, I don’t really believe that anyone else dreams, either.”

“Of course people dream,” said AB, dropping bunches and pots of flowers on the floor. “I dream all the time. I’m full of dreams every night.”

“Even tonight?” I asked, excited, because I had some power, some type of knowledge, although I didn’t know what it was. “Tonight,” she repeated. “Especially tonight,” she said, dropping bowls of snow on the floor. “It is right now, right here.” Her voice was also full of excitement. “I am dreaming about you.”

“Me?” I said. “You can’t be dreaming about me. I’m right here – I’m not in your dream.”

“Not only are you in my dream,” she said, dropping automobiles and tram cars on the floor, “but you’re talking in your usual obstinate way. You’re cross, and you’re silly, and you’re shaking your hands at me.”

“I’m doing no such thing,” I said, wringing my hands and starting to yell.

“You’ve taken your absurd thoughts,” she said, dropping pieces of Prague on the floor, “and you’re forcing me to be part of them.”

“Even if it’s true – all true,” I said, trying to sweep Prague into the river, “it still isn’t me. You’re the one having the dream.”

AB snatched the broom out of my hand, and dropped it to the floor. “Then try to wake me,” she said.

16 January 1917

I have the feeling, that what I really am doing at the office, is committing suicide. And doing a good job.

What Did Bedford the Cat Get For Christmas?

Fishing Pole Toy with a pulsating light at the end of the fishing line [operated by human]

Chase The Laser Toy [operated by human]

Bag of small balls and toys to chase [thrown by human]

Assorted cans of delicious treats:

1) salmon and shrimp feast

2) ocean white fish and liver

3) cod, sole and shrimp

4) white chicken penne pasta served in a silky sauce

5) white chicken florentine in a light broth [fed by human]

                                                                     

What Did the Human Get For Christmas?

One enlarged photo of Bedford the Cat, framed with a glass front [unsigned]

DE

What did the human get for Christmas?

One enlarged phoyo of Bedford the Cat, framed with a glass front [unsigned]

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑