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LANGUAGE CAN BE TRUSTED I want to read something that makes me think or feel, even if it makes me feel like I want to go out and smash things like mirrors and windows and glass and people’s skulls.
  • PHOTOGRAPH BY KELLY O
  • LANGUAGE CAN BE TRUSTED I want to read something that makes me think or feel, even if it makes me feel like I want to go out and smash things like mirrors and windows and glass and people’s skulls.

I'm so sick of irony. I'm sick of nihilism and meaninglessness and everything that's hipper than thou or smarter than thou or oh boo-hoo my poor brilliant life has no meaning (whose fault is that?) and oh boo-hoo language can't be trusted anymore. It can, damn it. And if you don't trust it, then shut up and do something else. Talk to someone whose stick isn't up their rear as far as yours is. Talk to someone who isn't impressed with your fascinating mind. Talk to someone who things mean something to, who needs things, including stories and poems and words, to mean something. Or better yet, listen to someone. Listen to someone who doesn't even think about language because they are thinking about how to feed themselves or their kids or find a job or love or not wanting to die.

What I am trying to say is that language can work, it can be trusted and it can save your life.

It can say things you want and things that can make you think and feel like maybe you're not entirely alone, that maybe somebody else is sort of like you and maybe decided not to blow their brains out but stayed alive so maybe you can too. Language can also say things that are hilarious, that make you laugh till you double over and realize that even if things are awful, sometimes they're also awfully funny. It can say things about um... Beauty and Truth and Hope and... um... er... Love... and even um... er... Redemption.

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