LN

I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world.
I may not ever complete the last one, but I give myself to it.
I circle around God, that primordial tower.
I have been circling for thousands of years,
And I still don‚t know,
Am I falcon, a storm, or a great song?
- Rainer Maria Rilke
“ I live my life in widening circles, that reach out across the world…”
Gary Murray’s widening circles must begin quite literally in a train-yard in Bellevue, Ohio, where his house sits. He has traveled a bit in the eastern half of the US, but has never yet been west of Chicago. Via the telephone, the imagery of his surroundings is described, while trains are heard in the background, as they obey their time-schedule, rumbling over clanking metal tracks. The industrial pounding of locomotives rattles by, and shakes the foundation of the house. As early as 6:30 in the morning, Murray might be found on the porch, getting ready for his job at the local library, already lighting up a cigarette, beginning his daily competition with the chimneys of the local factories. He watches his Christmas present - a dog named Verbatim - frolic in the midwinter snow. It is a zany little dog, I’m told. The dog makes widening circles. Murray takes it all in, drags a puff of smoke over the telephone.