when giants walked the earth

the ground covered in white this morning. all the heavy equipment dusted with snow.

it's almost eight and i'm still in my robe. its almost impossible to drag myslef to work some days. i want to go back to bed and read books.

i got an e-mail response from my friend bob lewis this morning. we went to kent state together. we waded through the later 1960s together. we were in love with the same girl, together. we rode around northeast ohio in his maroon 60-something chevrolet and smoked hash together. we wrote poetry and listened to blues records together. he says in his e-mail, and i quote, "i long to be old enough to dress as the immaculate old man. white shirt buttoned up all the way - black suit pants at nipple level with suspenders. high-top lace up dress shoes from Redwing: 'fuck you young punks - you guys don't know nothin' . . . when I was young there were giants on the earth."

indeed, i replied. we had professors who were giants. i think about my daughter and the giant-less earth she walks today. when i was 20, there were so many giants we didn't know what to do. which one to be. the beatles. goddard. chavez. leary. farina. ferlinghetti. corso. kesey. de kooning. ginsburg. kerouac. dorn. donleavy. warhol. dylan. kennedy. arbus. hayden. hoffman. king. pynchon. miles. barth. bellow. frost.

and, as bob said, we got to see elizabeth cotton. and reverend gary davis, i reminded him. in the cafeteria at the student union. pre-cult of personality. pre-video disk jockey. pre-people magazine.

giants, indeed.

and , on my iPod yesterday this came up in the shuffle. written in 1963 by a 23 year old bob dylan.

i got a letter on a lonesome day
it was from her ship a-sailin'
saying i don't know when i'll be coming back again
it depends on how i'm feelin'

well, if you my love must think that a-way
i'm sure your heart is a-roamin'
i'm sure your heart is not with me,
but to the country to where you're goin'

so take heed, take heed of the western wind
take heed of stormy weather.
and yes, there's something you can send back to me,
spanish boots of spanish leather.

giants, indeed.