We are living amongst pure forms
in a radical obscenity
in the visible obscenity of figures
that were once secret and discrete—
the theoretical hallucination of desire
with its diffuse libido—
it is no longer a matter of seduction as passion
but of a demand for seduction
of an invocation of desire
its realization taking the place of the faltering meditations
on power and knowledge that inhere in love—
What remains of the enchantment
of that labyrinthine structure
within which one could lose oneself?
That universe where gods and men sought to please each other
even by the violent seduction of sacrifice?
The degenerated metalanguage of seduction
combined with the degenerated metalanguage
of politics is everywhere operative
and we can no longer speak of that form of absorption
of potential engulfment
that fateful distraction
from which no one can ever be completely safe
nor even of the corruption of innocence or virtue
for there is no longer any morality or perversion to speak of—
we are no longer speaking about a violence
committed against meaning and its silent extermination
but about what is left to language
when it no longer has anything to say—
a discursive libidinal striptease—
no longer a vertiginous loss
but the minimalist form of mutual gratification
two beings can give each other
which is neither attractive nor dangerous
this specter of seduction that haunts our circuits
without secrets, our phantasies
without affect, our contact networks
without contacts
that this is its pure form
the seductive shadow that hovers over the desert of power itself—
the lion’s face above the temple door
guardian monstrous mouth blackened with sacrificial teeth
O lion, light-breath of amber, do not seek to leave us
credits
from The Lion's Face,
released November 10, 2012
Words & voice: Tim Van Dyke // Music: Brian Howe
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