Week Two - Paterson

No truth but in things. No truth but in facts. That stays in my mind throughout Paterson. The way he interweaves the natural landscape into a person, along with the historical memories of the place reminds me that the only truth in Paterson is the facts, the lost aspects of these peopled places. I find the way he interrupts rampages of poetic thought with informational sections and paragraphs to be sometimes strange, and I didn't find it comfortable until after a while. I like that he finally explained that the reason he writes in bursts is to mimic the strange way the Greeks wrote poetry, very tainted by their surroundings and personal impulses or memories. An unclean form of verse is part of it, and I sense the lack of cleanliness in the juxtaposition of history and wonder. I think its really great how Paterson becomes the only man, though there are many woman. Its a very unique thing, and maybe also sexist that there would be many woman to one man, but maybe thats how Paterson has to be, being nothing else but a man in the end. I think its interesting when he starts to defend being old, and I agree with him. There is nothing wrong with getting older, or being old, so long as you don't let the way you seem to look effect the way you think. You should almost always be you despite what your body looks like, because that's personality. I think Williams realizes that his body may age, and he may pick up more baggage, but who doesn't have baggage? Who doesn't have roots and memories? The town, the man, the poet, all and each roots and memories that tie them to the past and the present, help to define the originality of the person or place.

Something else that came up while reading Paterson is the concept of sustainability. Especially sustainability of the self. Will also found himself pondering what that idea meant, though we had different views. To me it was about pragmatism: sustaining my good feelings, finding things to think about and work for so I'm always moving and changing and growing like any person might. Will on the other hand thought about the sustainability of the honesty of the writer, and how a writer betrays himself when he describes something plainly or in a manner that is not his own. I don't feel this is the idea that I had, which was really about how one goes about being an emotionally sustainable person, especially after losing people they were close to (my just girlfriend left for grad school in NYC though we're technically still together). Will was more worried about the authenticity of the piece of writing that is composed, but both ideas comes back to a core principle: no truth but in things, no truth but in facts. I need things to work toward to keep my spirits up and remaining running without having a nervous breakdown for example. Will needs his writing to always be from him in his own manner or its a betrayal to the style and creativity that he aims to sustain for a long time. This is how sustain ourselves: with the facts that define us and the things we work toward.