Joie De Vivre

It all could have been less serious, more fun and played with more exuberance, but like the lone tragedian with his oft repeated dramatic scripts we played ii out as an adversity, a roll call of regrets. We could have spent more time doing nothing much in a more magnificent way. Silence and patience were never virtues, just a signal of ennui. We could have enervated more days, spent more time knocking over sacred cows, or just being a happy jerk, then writing a thousand poetic apologies to a thousand strangers. Speaking of ‘strangers’ a few more jovial greetings and ‘how de do’s’ might have been the way to go, more love letters and passion just for sake of the spirits exaltation, but no, we had to be the serious ones, bespectacled and intense the wise pretenders to a hoary old wizards throne long abandoned by more astute jesters. We imagined we were a sober business, worthy of much studious scrutiny, when in reality we were just a walk on and walk off part in a vaudeville show. A place were the choice between being a big banana or a small sour grape was the only question. At least let’s leave this stage with an exaggerated clown walk, and if we can’t quite bring ourselves to laugh at the silliness of the human race, then let us start and end with ourselves as we wave a red-nosed goodbye to a stunned and probably dead-pan crowd.