Page Contents (contents below pages widget link scrolling down)

0. introduction

Silence
Concerning Study
I am
Peel Unto Me My Lord
The Crush of Anomie
Leaving Bowery 離開曼哈頓的華埠　二〇〇二年
Cavities and Poisons of the Have Nots
Nothing
Graveled Pride
Empty Time
displaced fruitful budding seed on pavement (2008)
Heaven has a Waiting List, You Must Be Placed in the Fridge (2008)
August 19, 2002 Iraq (excerpt letter)

0. Introduction

雞屎山台南: 財信雜誌社WEALTH MAGAZINE 雞屎山學院　藏寶樂園 this is a portion of my art work in Tainan. “

A book purchased used in Owego NY, 1994. Later, I would end up spending near 5 years living just a short drive from this village, in Tainan.

布袋鎮 Budai township, taiwan. A favored destination on scooter from tainan. (一个特别的地方我有时候从台南到去)

I eventually began a formal master’s level study 2001. I entered School of Oriental and African Studies, London, focusing on the Anthropology of Modern China.

John Joseph Kehoe, MA 2003

MA, Anthropology of Modern China, University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies

姜唘豪, 碩士, 中國學, 具體現代人類學, 2003, 倫敦大學亞非學院,

(also see widget area very bottom)

worn bench, nyc — bench, nyc, june 14, 2013

SILENCE

Tired of here,

yes,

only from the daily race in the public transportation

where no one wants to look at another.

Silence, not one smile,

the quiet that becomes all too loud,

and echoes ceaselessly

into the mundane patterns of waking life

in a city of strangers,

all with searching hearts,

but not one applicable method of deployment.

Pathetic are we to carry on,

but no, we have laughter.

Laughter derived from our hopeless desire for salvation.

The imbecility of such

is enough entertainment to last more than a century,

for the laughter shall echo for a thousand years.

(2002, London)

Bowery and Grand, NYC, Chinatown, October 2011- September 2012my bed full of receipts as I budget. July 2012 Bowery NYC

University of London Senate House and School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

Concerning Study and Dissertation, 2002, London

I have sought to argue

that tradition symbolically

is a representation of community,

and communities either fall prey

to becoming hollow locales

vacuous of any localism

and hence a populous

prone to anomy,

or they retain a continuity

with their past,

while surviving

the out migration

and in migration

as well as modernization

and westernization,

which

in such a case

we see

a resilience of community.

I am

I am the devil who is eating chocolate at the dinner table.

I am the elephant that is crossing the road and pissing off an American driver.

I am the kite, which is hovering over the trees and benches of the park

only to find rest high in a tree and far out of grip.

(2003)

PEEL UNTO THEE MY LORD

PEEL FROM ME

THE VESTIGIAL RESIDUE

OF MY TORN,

TATTERED

AND FORGOTTEN HEART

THE HEARTH OF WHICH

SHAKEN BY TORMENT

and

TOSS THE SOILED FLESH

OF THAT HEART

ONTO

THE PEOPLED PEDESTIAN PATHWAYS

ALLOWING MY FORM

TO LAY AWAITING

THE ARRIVAL OF JESUS

ONLY TO FIND

HE CARE THE MOISTENED SORES

OF ANOTHER

WHILE I REMAIN

IN A RAGE OF BOX

(2007)

The Crush of Anomie

Speaking of Swedes,

Ingmar Bergman

was greatly influenced

by Freudian thought,

and his films portray modern humans

grappling with the condition of modernity,

the fraying of tradition,

and the crush of anomie,

or alienation,

that invades

the privations

of modern humans,

as asphalt

and concrete

separates

and dislocates

the continuity

that grasses and farmlands

gave to people,

in the days

when Feudal lords

reigned powerful,

and the majority

were peasants,

humble

and hard working.

(from an e-mail letter to a friend, Tuesday, August 11, 2009 4:29 PM)

Leaving Bowery 離開曼哈頓的華埠　二〇〇二年

— at 我在纽约的曼哈顿华埠

leaving the Bowery, NYC.

2012 Sept.

Leaving New York City

after a year living in a hotel on Bowery,

in the heart of Chinatown.

Albany was a respite from metro NYC, only to return a week later, where I remain still to this day.

When traveling, always have sufficient reading material.

The one title you can’t make out is a book on macrobiotics published in 1965,

You Are All Sanpaku: Sakurazawa Nyoiti, George Ohsawa.

Of course Sanpaku is Japanese. The Chinese is 三白眼 san bai yan.

This book provided me with support of my long held argument

that milk and sugar should be avoided as much as possible.

park nyc 2013

Cavities and Poisons of the Have Nots

Let us export not misery and death,

which seems to be our biggest export commodity at present,

let us not export false perceptions of reality through Hollywood,

one that poisons the minds of people in other regions of the world,

and gives them the impression that they are the ‘have nots’.

Wake up and stop allowing grass to be shoveled

into the cavity where you speak from.

We are not sheep,

we are the have nots,

we are the ones empty so empty

that we validate our existence

by killing others that are different

in some supposed humanitarian aim at helping them.

(taken and edited from a letter to a friend on Wednesday, November 8, 2006 7:58 AM)

nothing

I am sending you nothing.

There is nothing here apart from this worded letter of banter and piffle.

Nothing for you to see, hear or taste,

for our ears have all heard enough,

and our tongues can taste not more,

and I do believe that the gods shall soon cover the sun

and no one on this twirling planet of lunatics will have use for eyes,

for like ants, which are misguided by too much sugar

we all shall run this silly little planet

knocking into each other until the majority of us have been trampled upon

and the remaining few have collapsed from exhaustion.

(2002)

2013

GRAVELED PRIDE

EMPTY PILES

AND SILENT PRAISES

SOLE ENDEAVORS

LAY VACANT OF VIEW

FOR THORNED BARACADES

BRITTLED THE SOUL

DRIED TO THIRST

ALL WHO VACATED

THE CUSTODIAL WINDS

THE WINDS THAT ONCE

GRAVELED THE PRIDE

ARE WINDS NO MORE

SO HEAL NOT HEARTS

HEAL NOT SOUL

BREATHE

THE DUST

OF THE DECAYED

BREATHE

THE INVOLUNTARY

AND BREATHE

THE DELAYED

WE SHALL SHAKE

BUT NONE

SHAN’T SHOOK

THE CONCRETE

THE BRISTLING

OF DRIED LEAVES

AND THAT COOL

COOL WET AIR to feel

THAT STILL

AND EMPTY SOUND

BETWEEN DRY SKIN

AND NAIL

AS PALID

FONTS

LEAVE VACANT

THE PROSE

OF THE SOUL

THAT WANDERS

OFF OF

THE PAVED ROAD

(2007)

EMPTY TIME

Time time time

Languishing in the gloom

Of overcast skies

Pondering the problems

Of the world

Which prances about

In the decorum of empty time

(Verse by John J. Kehoe 2009)

displaced fruitful budding seed on pavement

(Correspondence 2008)

Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:14:19 -0700
Subject: A seed on the pavement of the sequestered plain

Stacy,

I am not in NYC and have not been there for some time. I am still in NY state, though wish to plant myself in a more vibrant area, like NYC, for the region I live in does not offer one of my background and experience, and aspirations and dreams. Stimulation is lacking for one like myself, here. The pallid social landscape offers only for the married with children suburban types, so it seems, who’s perceptions differ from one like myself.

I spent several years to eventually leave this area while developing my experience and professionalism, and that was more then 15 years ago, and being back here by ways, it seems, of not my own design is crap. I feel like a displaced fruitful budding seed on pavement! as anyone would. But perhaps I can go here, and contemplate and penetrate the vast reservoirs of uncharted water of the human mind, or have chat and chatter with fellow inmates of existence. a not too accurate reference to Jean Paul Sartre’s No Exist. I think. Inmates of existence may be more in the direction of a Brecht play, though these days I have less verse in regards to the literary arts, as six packs and empty hours paint my days. Six packs and America’s unique microbrews I will save for next time.

I really think the US has too many cars on the streets and we should replace them with tables and chairs . From Slovenia and Zagreb to the cooler climates of Riga and Warsaw, that is one aspect of European culture would be a welcome if it migrated here. I think this would cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, don’t you?

Any plans to join the Olymics in Beijing? The presence of the Olympics in Beijing seem to be highlighting China’s pollution problems more then what the government had intended.

john

Friday, August 1, 2008 7:12 AM

John

i just want to say one thing…
I think you might have more luck with the ladies than you imagine! I seem to remember a good looking man with “mad professor” charm that most of the fairer sex would find interesting!!
I always found you captivating.
xx

Letter from July and August 2008, Living in Binghamton, NY, continued below photo

Photo: One of my favored 20th century composers, Shostakovich's quartets, were complete in a series of performances by Jerusalem Quartet in early 2013, in NYC. This was ad ad in the Dominican Region of Washington Heights NYC.

One of my favored 20th century composers, Shostakovich’s quartets, were complete in a series of performances by Jerusalem Quartet in early 2013, in NYC. This was ad ad in the Dominican Region of Washington Heights NYC.

Letter to Stacy: Heaven has a waiting list, you must be placed in the Fridge

Letters From Binghamton

Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008

09:31:56 -0700

Subject: Heaven has a waiting list, you must be placed in the Fridge. (PART II)

Letter to Stacy cont.

[…]

Rathbone and Hawney Place

I found myself often, for not too far

I use to take my Sunday coffee

and pour over my books and the beloved FT,

for hours.

This area is a nice estuary

nestled

near the all too touristy

Oxford Street,

which was always

too peopled

with shoppers

for the likes of me.

Often, on Sundays,

when the library

was overkill

from a weeks

of study

I would find

my way

to another great area for coffee,

and that was

Holbron.

Holbron

and more so Bloomsbury

offered much

for this student

on the quiet of Sundays,

for I would frequent

the coffee houses

and sandwich shops,

peruse the used bookstore

and practice austerity

in regards to such,

while eventually

meandering through

the streets

till a lightly peopled pub

would present a break

from the books and coffee,

giving me a chance

to have a half pint

in the presence of

friendly faces.

I always had trouble

getting the bartender

to understand

my American

pronunciation

when I stated

‘half’.

I might have

just as well

been in Timbuktu

with

such a disparity

of pronunciation.

Read any good books lately?

How about having seen some interesting movie?

How is your love life? Are you eating well?

In all areas above,

my present existence

has been made stale

and crumbly.

You know the story.

But would love to hear

that life is treating

others good.

Seem to have

been in my element

in London.

Miss that place.

Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:31:56 -0700

Subject: Heaven has a waiting list, you must be placed in the Fridge. (PART I)

Stacy,

I actually went to Heaven and they would not let me in. Imagine that. I was sort of discriminated against, but also there was a Calvin Kline party with invitation only. Anyway, the friendly lady sought to direct me to a more appropriate place for a wearied house music seeker and she pointed me to Fahrenheit around the corner and up the alley. It was a better option, actually.

Fahrenheit is now not happening, but I would love to meet you at the Fridge for a chilling night out. You do know that study certainly curtailed my adventuring in such areas, but thus said, I did have a few chances inwhich to find a few neat places. Fabric was a real happening place, though wish in vane I had made it out of London to some small town where I could have felt the ambiance of the English, and check out the fabric of time held in place by tradition and cultivated local tastes. Thus said, London sufficed and one favored space of mine, once summer hit, in London was Royal Albert’s Hall. I saw some excellent symphs there, though one space I found myself in on those lonesome weekend afternoons as I wandered in the sun from London Bridge making my way closer to Rotherhith (near my home) was here: The Tate Modern, one does not even have to see the exhibitions, as I often found the exhibit spaces too crowded for an honest veiwing of the works, and was just as stimulated intellectually hovering about the huge enterance of this magnificent building.

Jazz, I would be very delighted to join in an adventure with you to a jazz venue, and hitting up one of the splendidly comforting pubs in London for some delicious ale would prefix such an outing very nicely. Shall I book a flight. I ain’t doing anything here, save for rotting.

Anyway, I recommend Jerusalem on Rathbone place. When my study ended I went to this restaunant/pub for one of great night when several DJs were spinning, and the nontraditional pub atmosphere of this unique venue receded and while techi sounds made for a loungy but clubesque space. It was a local hardhouse DJ’s birthday, and the tunes spinnings offered really brought to a fore London’s, and England’s (for that matter) talent in the DJ genre. I suspect that this venue has great food and is pub atmosphere on non dj nights. You out to check it out.

Just 6 short hours from London will get you some Mefa , which was the first dish I ate after arriving in Dakar, Senegal, and as it includes bonnet hot peppers it was a delight for this seasoned hot food enthusiast. The universe should be interpreted as a Cosmic Chilli.

Eating, yes, allow me to return to this topic, for a moment. I do agree with your most touted brown rice reference, which is to include other whole grains, I gather. I miss the diets I had in regions far from the boarders of this so called free democracy. Is American democracy in decline? Well, maybe so, but our food here in the US, be rest assured, is a never ending evolving and synthesizing, from mainstay classics to what our diversity of our migration has brought. Give me falafel or give me death. And if you come to NYC to visit, I can meet you and take you to this great place I used to go to fortify my form with fava bean based protein before going to the cafe for Chinese study. Mamoun’s Falafels are cheap and delicious.

Thank you for the compliment concerning the writing of my e-mails, though the cadence I once had regarding all activity the keyboard and beyond has been crippled to one extent or another. Perhaps I have a hearing problem if I so missed my calling. What does one do when one misses one’s calling? How about your calling?

[…]

John

(Letter from July and August 2008, Living in Binghamton, NY, continued below photo)

August 19, 2002

My interests are veering southwards away from the Balkans, as well as eastwardly towards western central Asia. I have considered Armenia, Georgia as well Iraq and Iran. A gentlemen who resides in the block apartment where I live, and is an MA student of engineering at UCL, spent the first 12 years of his life in his native Iraq before his family had moved to Northern England during the outbreak the Iran-Iraq war. He speaks of the deep and interesting antiquity of the Tigris Euphrates region near present day Baghdad, while giving clues to the cultural practices of the present day occupants. He has proven himself to be quite knowledgeable concerning the history of the Ottoman Empire as well, and is not short on the important points of the contemporary social and political configurations of the region. I can only feel of a strong desire to be amongst the people of this unfortunately politically volatile region and taste the food and experience such the different climate. Another intrigue is to witness the devastation that the UK and American alliance has brought to the people of Iraq, and further to see the authoritarianism of the Iraqi government and the oppression caused by the omnipotent authority of its ruler. I feel that it would be best to visit now before it becomes a colony of the US, and designated for ‘Disney in the Desert’. I have been consulting atlases and books but I know not where I shall go and perhaps I shall simply return to New York, where I can find much discontentment and unease.

I do hope all is well with you. How are you finding the painting of walls? Have you had enough of the city, and its shallow nightlife, which parades as if it is the highest of sophistication on all of the east coast? I do not envy you, and I dare reveal that I have taken to saying nightly prayers to various deities within a variety of faiths in an effort that such supplication will save your soul from the lifestyle dregs of Manhattan.

I shall be visiting New York and I do hope that I get a chance to visit with you. Although I realize that fly fishing in the Catskills and snowshoeing in the Adirondack captures much of your free time I am hopeful that by the time I arrive to NY the fish will have died from industrial poisoning, and that global weather changes due to the warming of the earths surface will have made snowfall in the Northeast nil.