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+how
+to
+read
+this
+this
+book
+is
+an
+exploration
+of
+life
+of
+all
+possible
+lives
+that
+could
+be
+lived
+each
+of
+the
+poems
+contained
+herein
+have
+been
+written
+by
+a
+different
+person
+with
+his
+own
+history
+culture
+and
+emotions
+true
+they
+are
+all
+related
+but
+no
+more
+than
+any
+of
+us
+is
+related
+through
+our
+genetics
+our
+shared
+planet
+or
+our
+yearnings
+fernando
+pessoa
+wrote
+poems
+under
+four
+different
+identities
+he
+called
+them
+heteronyms
+that
+were
+known
+during
+his
+lifetime
+though
+after
+his
+death
+over
+sixty
+have
+been
+found
+and
+catalogued
+he
+called
+them
+heteronyms
+as
+opposed
+to
+pseudonyms
+because
+they
+were
+much
+more
+than
+names
+he
+wrote
+under
+they
+were
+truly
+different
+writing
+selves
+concerned
+with
+different
+ideas
+and
+writing
+with
+different
+styles
+alberto
+caeiro
+wrote
+pastorals
+ricardo
+reis
+wrote
+more
+formal
+odes
+lvaro
+de
+campos
+wrote
+these
+long
+whitman-esque
+pieces
+one
+to
+whitman
+himself
+and
+pessoa's
+own
+name
+was
+used
+for
+poems
+that
+are
+kind
+of
+similar
+to
+all
+the
+others
+it
+seems
+as
+though
+pessoa
+found
+it
+inefficient
+to
+try
+and
+write
+everything
+he
+wanted
+only
+in
+his
+own
+self
+rather
+he
+parceled
+out
+the
+different
+pieces
+and
+developed
+them
+into
+full
+identities
+at
+the
+cost
+of
+his
+own
+i
+subsist
+as
+a
+kind
+of
+medium
+of
+myself
+but
+i'm
+less
+real
+than
+the
+others
+less
+substantial
+less
+personal
+and
+easily
+influenced
+by
+them
+all
+de
+campos
+said
+of
+him
+at
+one
+point
+fernando
+pessoa
+strictly
+speaking
+doesn't
+exist
+it's
+not
+just
+pessoa
+i
+strictly
+speaking
+don't
+exist
+both
+as
+the
+specific
+me
+that
+writes
+this
+now
+and
+as
+the
+concept
+of
+selfhood
+the
+ego
+heraclitus
+famously
+said
+that
+we
+can't
+step
+into
+the
+same
+river
+twice
+and
+the
+fact
+of
+the
+matter
+is
+that
+we
+can't
+occupy
+the
+same
+self
+twice
+it's
+constantly
+changing
+and
+adapting
+to
+new
+stimuli
+from
+the
+environment
+from
+other
+selves
+from
+inside
+itself
+and
+each
+time
+it
+forms
+anew
+into
+something
+that's
+never
+existed
+before
+the
+person
+i
+am
+beginning
+a
+poem
+is
+a
+separate
+being
+than
+the
+one
+i
+am
+finishing
+a
+poem
+and
+part
+of
+it
+is
+the
+poem
+i've
+written
+has
+brought
+forth
+some
+other
+dish
+onto
+the
+great
+table
+that
+is
+myself
+in
+the
+same
+way
+with
+each
+poem
+you
+read
+of
+this
+you
+too
+could
+become
+a
+different
+person
+depending
+on
+which
+order
+you
+read
+them
+in
+you
+could
+be
+any
+number
+of
+possible
+people
+if
+you
+follow
+the
+threads
+i've
+laid
+out
+for
+you
+there
+are
+so
+many
+possible
+selves
+if
+you
+disregard
+those
+and
+go
+a
+different
+way
+there
+are
+quite
+a
+few
+more
+however
+at
+the
+end
+of
+the
+journey
+there
+is
+only
+one
+self
+that
+you
+will
+occupy
+the
+others
+disappearing
+from
+this
+universe
+and
+going
+maybe
+somewhere
+else
+maybe
+nowhere
+at
+all
+there
+is
+a
+scene
+in
+the
+neverending
+story
+where
+bastian
+is
+trying
+to
+find
+his
+way
+out
+of
+the
+desert
+he
+opens
+a
+door
+and
+finds
+himself
+in
+the
+temple
+of
+a
+thousand
+doors
+which
+is
+never
+seen
+from
+the
+outside
+but
+only
+once
+someone
+enters
+it
+it
+is
+a
+series
+of
+rooms
+with
+six
+sides
+each
+and
+three
+doors
+one
+from
+the
+room
+before
+and
+two
+choices
+in
+life
+each
+of
+these
+rooms
+is
+a
+moment
+but
+where
+bastian
+can
+choose
+which
+of
+only
+two
+doors
+to
+enter
+each
+time
+in
+life
+there
+can
+be
+any
+number
+of
+doors
+and
+we
+don't
+always
+choose
+which
+to
+go
+through
+in
+fact
+i
+would
+argue
+that
+most
+of
+the
+time
+we
+aren't
+allowed
+the
+luxury
+what
+happens
+to
+those
+other
+doors
+those
+other
+possibilities
+is
+there
+some
+other
+version
+of
+the
+self
+that
+for
+whatever
+complexities
+of
+circumstance
+and
+will
+chose
+a
+different
+door
+at
+an
+earlier
+moment
+the
+answer
+to
+this
+of
+course
+is
+that
+we
+can
+never
+know
+for
+sure
+though
+this
+doesn't
+keep
+us
+from
+trying
+through
+the
+process
+of
+regret
+we
+go
+back
+and
+try
+that
+other
+door
+in
+our
+mind
+extrapolating
+a
+possible
+present
+from
+our
+own
+past
+this
+is
+ultimately
+unsatisfying
+not
+only
+because
+whatever
+world
+is
+imagined
+is
+not
+the
+one
+currently
+lived
+but
+because
+it
+becomes
+obvious
+that
+the
+alternate
+model
+of
+reality
+is
+not
+complete
+we
+can
+only
+extrapolate
+from
+the
+original
+room
+absolutely
+without
+knowledge
+of
+any
+subsequent
+possible
+choices
+this
+causes
+a
+deep
+disappointment
+a
+frustration
+with
+the
+inability
+to
+know
+all
+possible
+timelines
+coupled
+with
+the
+insecurity
+that
+this
+may
+not
+be
+the
+best
+of
+all
+possible
+worlds
+that
+we
+feel
+as
+regret
+in
+this
+way
+every
+moment
+we
+live
+is
+an
+elegy
+to
+every
+possible
+future
+that
+might
+have
+stemmed
+from
+it
+annie
+dillard
+states
+this
+in
+a
+biological
+manner
+when
+she
+says
+in
+pilgrim
+at
+tinker
+creek
+every
+glistening
+egg
+is
+a
+memento
+mori
+nature
+is
+inefficient
+it
+spends
+a
+hundred
+lifetimes
+to
+get
+one
+that
+barely
+works
+the
+fossil
+record
+is
+littered
+with
+the
+failed
+experiments
+of
+evolution
+many
+of
+which
+failed
+due
+only
+to
+blind
+chance
+an
+asteroid
+a
+shift
+in
+weather
+patterns
+an
+inefficient
+copulation
+method
+each
+living
+person
+today
+has
+twenty
+dead
+standing
+behind
+him
+and
+that
+only
+counts
+the
+people
+that
+actually
+lived
+how
+many
+missed
+opportunities
+stand
+behind
+any
+of
+us
+the
+real
+problem
+with
+all
+of
+this
+is
+that
+time
+is
+only
+additive
+there's
+no
+way
+to
+dial
+it
+back
+and
+start
+over
+with
+new
+choices
+or
+new
+environments
+even
+when
+given
+the
+chance
+to
+do
+something
+again
+we
+do
+it
+again
+with
+the
+reality
+given
+by
+our
+previous
+action
+thus
+we
+are
+constantly
+creating
+and
+being
+created
+by
+the
+world
+the
+self
+is
+never
+the
+same
+from
+one
+moment
+to
+the
+next
+a
+poem
+is
+like
+a
+snapshot
+of
+a
+self
+if
+it's
+any
+good
+it
+captures
+the
+emotional
+core
+of
+the
+self
+at
+the
+time
+of
+writing
+for
+communication
+with
+future
+selves
+either
+within
+the
+same
+person
+or
+outside
+of
+it
+thus
+revision
+is
+possible
+and
+the
+new
+poem
+created
+will
+be
+yet
+another
+snapshot
+of
+the
+future
+self
+as
+changed
+by
+the
+original
+poem
+the
+page
+becomes
+a
+window
+into
+the
+past
+a
+particular
+past
+as
+experienced
+by
+one
+self
+the
+poem
+is
+a
+remembering
+of
+a
+self
+that
+no
+longer
+exists
+in
+other
+words
+an
+elegy
+a
+snapshot
+doesn't
+capture
+the
+entire
+subject
+however
+it
+leaves
+out
+the
+background
+as
+it's
+obscured
+by
+foreground
+objects
+it
+fails
+to
+include
+anything
+that
+isn't
+contained
+in
+its
+finite
+frame
+in
+order
+to
+build
+a
+working
+definition
+of
+identity
+we
+must
+include
+all
+possible
+selves
+over
+all
+possible
+timelines
+combined
+into
+one
+person
+identity
+is
+the
+combined
+effect
+of
+all
+possible
+selves
+over
+time
+a
+poem
+leaves
+much
+of
+this
+out
+it
+is
+the
+one
+person
+standing
+in
+front
+of
+twenty
+ghosts
+a
+poem
+is
+the
+place
+where
+the
+selves
+of
+the
+reader
+and
+the
+speaker
+meet
+in
+their
+respective
+times
+and
+places
+in
+this
+way
+a
+poem
+is
+outside
+of
+time
+or
+place
+because
+it
+changes
+its
+location
+each
+time
+it's
+read
+each
+time
+it's
+two
+different
+people
+meeting
+the
+problem
+with
+a
+poem
+is
+that
+it's
+such
+a
+small
+window
+if
+we
+met
+in
+real
+life
+the
+way
+we
+met
+in
+poems
+we
+would
+see
+nothing
+of
+anyone
+else
+but
+a
+square
+the
+size
+of
+a
+postage
+stamp
+it
+has
+been
+argued
+this
+is
+the
+way
+we
+see
+time
+and
+ourselves
+in
+it
+as
+well
+vonnegut
+uses
+the
+metaphor
+of
+a
+subject
+strapped
+to
+a
+railroad
+car
+moving
+at
+a
+set
+pace
+with
+a
+six-foot-long
+metal
+tube
+placed
+in
+front
+of
+the
+subject's
+eye
+the
+landscape
+in
+the
+distance
+is
+time
+and
+what
+we
+see
+is
+the
+only
+way
+in
+which
+we
+interact
+with
+it
+it's
+the
+same
+with
+a
+poem
+and
+the
+self
+we
+can
+only
+see
+and
+interact
+with
+a
+small
+kernel
+this
+is
+why
+it's
+possible
+to
+write
+more
+than
+one
+poem
+due
+to
+this
+kernel
+nature
+of
+poetry
+a
+good
+poem
+should
+focus
+itself
+to
+extract
+as
+much
+meaning
+as
+possible
+from
+that
+one
+kernel
+of
+identity
+to
+which
+it
+has
+access
+it
+should
+be
+an
+atom
+of
+selfhood
+irreducible
+and
+resistant
+to
+paraphrase
+because
+it
+tries
+to
+somehow
+echo
+the
+large
+unsayable
+part
+of
+identity
+outside
+the
+frame
+of
+the
+self
+it
+is
+the
+kernel
+that
+contains
+a
+universe
+or
+that
+speaks
+around
+one
+that's
+hidden
+if
+it's
+a
+successful
+poem
+then
+it
+makes
+the
+smallest
+circuit
+possible
+this
+is
+why
+the
+commentary
+on
+poems
+is
+so
+voluminous
+a
+poem
+is
+tightly
+packed
+meaning
+that
+commentators
+try
+to
+unpack
+to
+get
+at
+that
+universality
+inside
+it
+a
+fortress
+of
+dialectic
+is
+constructed
+that
+ultimately
+obstructs
+the
+meaning
+behind
+the
+poem
+it
+becomes
+the
+foreground
+in
+the
+photograph
+that
+disallows
+us
+to
+view
+the
+horizon
+beyond
+it
+with
+this
+in
+mind
+i
+collect
+these
+poems
+that
+were
+written
+over
+a
+period
+of
+four
+years
+into
+this
+book
+where
+i
+can
+i
+insert
+cross-references
+like
+the
+one
+above
+in
+the
+margin
+to
+other
+pieces
+in
+the
+text
+where
+i
+think
+the
+two
+resonate
+in
+some
+way
+you
+can
+read
+this
+book
+in
+any
+way
+you'd
+like
+you
+can
+go
+front-to-back
+or
+back-to-front
+or
+you
+can
+follow
+the
+arrows
+around
+or
+you
+can
+work
+out
+a
+complex
+mathematical
+formula
+with
+merseinne
+primes
+and
+logarithms
+and
+the
+2000
+census
+information
+or
+you
+can
+go
+completely
+randomly
+through
+like
+a
+magazine
+or
+at
+least
+the
+way
+i
+flip
+through
+magazines
+i
+think
+writing
+is
+a
+communication
+of
+the
+self
+and
+i
+think
+this
+is
+the
+best
+way
+to
+communicate
+mine
+in
+all
+its
+multiversity