On Edges
Posted on May 13, 2009
Filed Under Aphorisms | 4 Comments
The center, we are told, should be our goal, both our starting point and our destination. But the fringes are far more interesting. It is here, on the periphery, where friction produces its most startling effects. It is here where everything rubs together, where boundaries blur, merge, become extended. Consider. From the tips of our tongues to the soles of our feet, we are all edges. The slightest touch sets off tremors, which ripple out in ever widening orbits—reminders that the universe does not revolve around us; we have to go out to meet it.
A version of this abbreviated essay appears in the May issue of Ode.
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Some stress what they have in common with others, and some (“edge” people) are mindful of how they are different.
We live on the edges of a mystery we cannot see.
When the tide turns it won’t be long before it turns back again.
Better to sit alone in the dark all day than go out and try to change people.
A long silence never means what it says.
Why do edges always end up knocking me in the shins on my way to work?