Surviving Love Amidst the Crowd
The Paradox of the French Moderne
Michel Butor/ Qalam
Due to its educational aspirations, Qalam strives to explain the world - hence, every historical or cultural phenomenon considered here is accompanied by a wealth of additional information. However, in this section, we have decided to do without unnecessary words and familiar comments. Before you are fragments of verses collected from different eras and parts of the world, which seem to speak for themselves and are notably beautiful to us. As one modern lyricist expressed on a similar occasion, if it's without explanations; it's probably to do with something in one's blood.
In the midst of a dense crowd - one could recommend the Parisian metro at six pm, but Tokyo buses and monorails will also do - individuals pressed closely together for long periods of time. Closely scrutinize the belly of a woman, imagine her skin, the entrance to her vagina, shrink to a suitable size, take refuge in her womb, unite with her through the attached placenta, reverse the flow of time, relive the orgasm of your conception within her, rejuvenate her, go through all stages of her childhood, her birth, settle in her mother's womb, relive her orgasm again, rejuvenate her, traverse all the stages of her childhood, her birth, and so on until you go back to the primeval hominids, the primitive vertebrates, and all the way to the elusive origins of the world.
Or (and for a woman, undoubtedly, this is where we should begin):
Closely scrutinize the belly of a man, imagine his skin, his manhood, shrink to a suitable size, take residence in one of his olives, accelerate the flow of time, flow into his wife's womb, merge with an egg cell, sprout, be born as his son, grow, mature, fall in love, quiver with desire, flow out of him into another woman's womb, be born as the observed person's grandchild, grow, and so on in the endless ending of centuries. In the act of love, follow both routes simultaneously. Each degree of precision attained enhances vivacity.
