Griffin and Sabine

These two names were first mentioned to me in 1997. A work colleague asked if I'd ever read the trilogy by Nick Bantock... this in the context of my mentioning a series of poems I'd written--functioning as "letters" between two characters I'd named Anna and George. I had not at that time, and in truth it is only now, 5 years later, that Griffin and Sabine have actually made their way into the inner sanctum of my literary experience. I have a theory. Sometimes information gets passed to you, years before you need it, as a deposit of things to come. So that when you do experience what was foreshadowed, you can see how your whole life has been rushing you furiously toward the place you presently find yourself standing.

My tortured relationship with Mr. Renaissance that is comprised of e-mail and artistic bartering is reminiscent of this fictitious, intuitive love affair. I read the copies I borrowed from a friend greedily--in one sitting--and felt the bells of recognition tolling for me. I don't think I am seeing my often frustrating connection to Mr. R too fondly. In every way that matters, it may as well have been our story I was reading. Of course, he's promised nothing, and has certainly not moved between worlds to get to me, but the soul of what is unfolding between us was there, waiting for me to find it. Another way for me to hear the same message.

Don't give up.