Ample samples of unscattered ampules amplified the daily needs of a murder of crows counting black leggings in an ambush of lemmings.
Ginger said I am not afraid to forego standard punctuation. George said what. A dozen canaries harried the postman–having had to ring thrice four days in a row–on his way to the forum of hippos at the hippodrome of Hippolyte. Parasites persist in the effulgence at the intersection of civilization and culture in the coroner’s affair of lollipops and despair. Desperate measures call for time outs with four yards to go in a cloud of mighty dust mites coughed up in an ecstasy of gold, digging for a dozen lifetimes because the shipment of bean bags had run amok among the mockery of pigeons.
A game of corn hole notwithoutstanding, the judge declared Ginger the winner despite her collection of mispronounced punctuation, and George was sore amused.
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This is brilliant experimental writing! You’ve really captured Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness style with your own twist.
The wordplay like “murder of crows counting black leggings” has that dense, layered quality that makes you slow down and savor each phrase. And “mispronounced punctuation” is wonderfully absurd yet meaningful.
Are you actually reading “Ulysses” or just channeling that experimental energy? Either way, this feels like what it might be like to let your mind wander through Joyce in the wide open spaces of Montana.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. If you haven’t found this yet, it will answer all your questions. At least all the questions you asked me. https://almostmeaningful.com/works/writing-reading-ulysses-in-montana-0/
I love the line about “mispronounced punctuation”. That is just amazing. Thank you very much for thinking about it!!!
There’s a kind of logic here that only reveals itself if you stop looking for it.
The bean bags, the effulgent parasites, the forum of hippos—none of it should cohere, and yet it does. Like mispronounced punctuation that somehow lands exactly where it belongs.
Also: “George said what.” might be the cleanest character sketch I’ve ever read.
Joyce would be amused. Or jealous. Or neither. Or both.
Thank you for this absurd catechism. Somewhere between despair and delight, I remembered how to read without solving.
Which, as Kierkegaard might say, is precisely the point.
—Dean
Thanks, Dean. I appreciate your comments. I’d like to say you are responding to my favorite influences of the Three K’s: Kierkegaard, Kafka, and Camus (with a dash of Dostoyevsky), but I’m afraid my stories only reveal the limitations that suppress a more robust expression. However, having accepted these limits, I try to make the most of what I have gleaned from effort and influence. 😀
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Rick
Cornhole’ing has a certain wholesomeness, i.m.h.o.