“There are no aesthetic emergencies,” John Cage said, in A Year From Monday (1969, p. 28). Above that, same page, Cage typed:
“Complaint: you open doors; what we
want to know is which ones you
close. (Doors I open close auto-
matically after I go through).”
Later, on page 30, Cage gets to a point:
“What is the crux of the matter as far as a listener is concerned? It is this: he has ears; let him use them.”
And then, in all caps:
“HAPPY NEW EARS!”
The years close behind us like automatic doors.
And Jesus said:
“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see
what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear
but did not hear it” (Matthew, 13:16-17).
Remember when cell phones and email converged? “Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?” … “I just sent you an email! Did you get it?”
Who can hear the door closing?
“There are no aesthetic emergencies.”
Let the doors close
automatic
ally,
as they will,
and have a Hap
py Nap
py New Year
at The Coming
of the Toads.
The Coming of the Toads 