journal features

hello, Sleepy

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Sydney, 2000.09.27

Last night after the diving semifinal, we were sauntering out of the Olympics venue when we were approached by a young (Korean) couple, who asked if we were from Canada. They handed us a plush moose toy, which had a laminated carboard card on a shoestring around its neck. It explained that the moose had come from a Grade 3 class in Aylmer, Ontario, and was a project from a Social Studies class. It was due back in Aylmer in May of 2000, but the journal in its denim, hand-made backpack indicated that the moose had been holing up in a hotel in Sydney for four or five months. I contacted the school via their email address, wondering if they were keen on getting the moose back immediately, cos we thought we'd take it to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) with us.

rand()m quote

Immature poets imitate mature poets steal bad poets deface what they take and good poets make it into something better or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique utterly different than that from which it is torn the bad poet throws it into something which has no cohesion. A good poet will usually borrow from authors remote in time or alien in language or diverse in interest.

—T.S. Eliot