Legally Blind

Legally Blind

Tuesday 16 May, I went to an eye specialist in the city of Yokohama where I live, and he had a visual field test done. He indicated that his analysis of the results would probably demonstrate that, by Japanese standards, I am legally blind.

When I uploaded my latest book, THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD, the front cover of which is shown above, the process took about ninety minutes and was tiring because my vision had deteriorated appreciably since the last time I uploaded a book.

This book is now available for sale at lulu.com/hughcook and, all going well, should be available via amazon.com in a couple of months.

While working on the DEATH POEMS section of this book, I came upon the following poem, THIS WAR IN IRAQ.

THIS WAR IN IRAQ

A public man.
His suicide was broadband.
Where was my Lotto win from that?
Promises, promises:
The delights of the future
Include water wars,
But this,
As yet,
Is prospect only,
No ice cream offered upfront with the nuts.
Meantime,
This Treaty of Versailles business,
What was my payoff from all that?
My carnage files are missing.
I cannot find
Why the corpse in the morgue should signify,
Why the raped vocal chords
Could be construed as therapeutic.
This war in Iraq,
Precisely what
Is its utility to me?
Your baby,
Dead or an octopus,
How does that
Improve the flavor of my tea?
Where is my coup from the genocide?
In the big bowl of blindness
Where is my edible hummingbird?
In the ashes of the bushfire
Where is my portion of the heart?

This poem pretty much indicates my mindset as my world closes in on itself, my entire focus my own problems.

That said, I'm peripherally aware of Iraq.

After George W. Bush nukes Iraq, what is his plan for dealing with the country?

Nuke it back to the stone age so Iran cannot manufacture even sewing machines? Recruit missionaries from Pennsylvania and try to convert the entire Iran population to the low-tech Amish religion? Have Iran garrisoned by loyal allies, such as Afghanistan and Iraq?

The Bush regime strategy, as far as I can make out, seems to be based on a manual which the White House has been studying recently, THE TOOTH FAIRY'S GUIDE TO WISH FULFILLMENT.

With THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD finished, I find I have the motivation to drive forward with the production of a new edition of THE WORSHIPPERS AND THE WAY, the ninth book of the ten-book CHRONICLES OF AN AGE OF DARKNESS series, and the only one, at this point, still out of print.

All going well, I will complete and upload the new edition of THE WORSHIPPERS AND THE WAY in either May or June of this year.