Broken Symmetry

The Materialism of Angels

40 The Materialism of Angels “Who฀would฀say฀that฀pleasure฀is฀not฀useful?” —Charles฀Eames Of฀course฀the฀angels฀dance.฀If฀not on฀the฀head฀of฀a฀pin,฀then฀along any฀boardwalk฀beside฀the฀ocean฀of฀stars. And฀they฀eat฀hot฀and฀spicy:฀salsa, Tabasco,฀red฀peppers.฀They฀love mangoes.฀They฀can฀munch for฀hours฀on฀cashews.฀Olives sit฀in฀bronze฀bowls฀on฀the฀cherry tables฀next฀to฀their฀canopy฀beds where฀the฀solace฀of฀pillows฀swallows their฀sweet฀heads฀and฀the฀quiet of฀silk฀lies฀across฀their฀happy฀backs. They฀know฀the฀altruism฀of฀material฀things. They฀want฀to฀say฀to฀us,฀“We’ll฀sleep next฀to฀you.฀Feel฀our฀soft฀and฀unimposing flutter฀across฀your฀shoulders,฀on฀your heartbroken฀feet.”฀They฀want฀us to฀take,฀eat,฀smell฀the฀wood, run฀our฀tired฀fingers฀over฀the฀rim฀of every฀glass,฀give฀our฀eyes฀the฀chance to฀see฀the฀metal฀bend฀and curve฀its฀way฀into฀the฀black฀oval of฀the฀chair.฀They฀want฀us฀to฀feel the฀holiness฀of฀scratching฀where฀it itches,฀rubbing฀where฀it฀hurts.฀They want฀us฀to฀take฀long,฀steamy฀showers 41 and฀a฀nap.฀They฀know฀how฀easily we฀follow฀directions:฀hook฀the฀red฀wire to฀the฀front฀of฀the฀furnace,฀fill฀in฀only the฀top฀half฀of฀the฀life฀insurance฀form. They฀have฀no฀manuals฀for฀joy. They฀can’t฀fix฀anything฀we฀break. They฀wonder฀why฀we฀never฀laugh enough,฀why฀we฀don’t฀know฀God is฀crazy฀for฀deep฀massage฀and฀loves to฀wail฀an฀alto฀sax฀whenever฀they฀dance. This page intentionally left blank ...