Introduction to Every Atom by project curator Brian Clements
The latest news . . . . discoveries, inventions, societies . . . . authors old and new,
My dinner, dress, associates, looks, business, compliments, dues,
The real or fancied indifference of some man or woman I love,
The sickness of one of my folks—or of myself . . . . or ill-doing . . . . or loss or lack of money . . . . or depressions or exaltations,
They come to me days and nights and go from me again,
But they are not the Me myself.
Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am,
Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary,
Looks down, is erect, bends an arm on an impalpable certain rest,
Looks with its sidecurved head curious what will come next,
Both in and out of the game, and watching and wondering at it.
Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with linguists and contenders,
I have no mockings or arguments . . . . I witness and wait.
“Studying the mightiest war epic of all time, Wittman Ah Sing changed--beeen!--into a pacifist. Dear American monkey, don't be afraid. Here, let me tweak your ear, and kiss your other ear.”
[from Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book, with permission of the author]
Maxine Hong Kingston is the author of The Woman Warrior: Memoir of a Girl among Ghosts and of the novel Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book, among other titles. She is a recipient both of the National Humanities Medal (from President Clinton) and of the National Medal of Arts (from President Obama).
Cover art by Mike Tyer