Sergio De La Pava - Personae

Immerse yourself, your self, in the River and wade in its water.

Excavate the ruinous to sort the living from the dead then determine if it is life that can be lived on.

I prey that I might be shown the way and it is a grueling confusing dissent.

To the River and out of harm.

Rage at the infinite and eternal, spirited solace for the sick to bear their burden.

Come to the eternal River, come.

Come children. Then. Once the water’s restored you. Lay back and float. As you lay. Living. The current will raise you. Truth ascends. Lies stay stuck on the ground. Stare so intently at the sky Heaven’s gates begin to almost imperceptibly part. Then draw in some air honey. Sweet air. And let the current bear you home.

New York, NY

March 2011

fn Despite the admittedly unconventional nature of this report I nonetheless intend to occasionally pepper this account with the kind of tortured locutions often found in official law enforcement documents. Thus, as in above, I will not merely go to or arrive at a location, rather I will respond to it in my vehicle (car). Likewise expect possibly copious mentions of perps, vics, subjects, suspects, wanteds etc. My motivation for this I’ll keep to myself but I must consequently implore the reader not to prematurely impugn my intellect nor should said reader be dissuaded from continuing with what promises to be an altogether rousing narrative.

fn This is fact not opinion. For a more extended discussion of the applicable phenomena see, if even possible, Dr. Helen Tame’s article Sound Without Fury: Soundwave Behavior and Surreptitious Audition in Issue Three of the now-defunct SCIENCE FACTION MAGAZINE.

fn Originally published in The American Journal of Musical Theory (Fall 2000, Vol. 93, № 3) with an explanatory editor’s note referencing the author’s “singular history” including the acclaimed concert career and its unexplained abrupt cessation, all in seemingly defensive attempt to justify the odd effect the article would likely have on the journal’s usual readers.

fn The title of this work is derived in a singular manner. Although no title is written in Writer’s hand, affirmative steps were seemingly taken to title the work as above. As indicated previously the body of The Ocean was written in the margins of a ravaged TV GUIDE (one that displayed John Forsythe on its cover and wondered how long he could continue to resist various evil machinations). Said magazine always began by listing the reader’s televisual options for the ensuing Saturday. Here, one of those options was a film called you guessed it and these two all-caps words are blatantly circled The above story then follows and sorry if you disagree but The Ocean is its title. Regarding what may be objectors’ primary objection, note that Writer displayed zero reticence about reusing others’ titles as will be apparent to the discerning reader upon further development. Lastly, also singular is the film itself. Specifically, no other record exists of what is identified as this 1932 black and white motion picture and the people involved and I mean none; as in there is nothing you can click so don’t bother and, yes, this is true in twenty-first century America. In short it’s as if it never happened. As if no showgirl on the lam soon discovers the true depths of the sea’s loathing of mankind.

fn Being taken here is a narrative liberty. Helen Tame did not do this explaining patiently; Helen Tame did nothing patiently because now picture the least patient person you know and realize that Tame would make that person seem saintly were a comparison made.

fn Helen Tame understood this on an intellectual level as well as something like that could be understood. However, this understanding had never yet resolved itself into an explanation of her uncommon interiority, why she never felt stillness.