Andrew Duggan

Andrew Duggan Jun 2017

I have a Chinese friend that needs to go into hospital today.

She smiles everyday and hides her December gleam in the cold Taiyuan mornings.

But I know she is worried.

Now she needs to catch the courage in her eyes.

So last night I prayed for her.

And told her that one in never alone in a fight.

There is always a light that never goes out.

She has a shadow on her left breast. So I wrote this for her.

Andrew Duggan Jun 2017

A conversation in Xu's Cafe

Ms Tong, a friend, was helping me today.
Few would.
I said to her " the only way out is through"
Robert Frost said this.
She smiled
" The painful slog through is necessary to come to the end"
She said this.

Xu's is a place I drink coffee in. Ms Tong is a teacher that was helping me with some student marks.

Andrew Duggan Jun 2017

Critical Thinking and LCD Soundsystem.

Listening to LCD Soundsystem.
and marking your work is not easy for me.

Their music resonates with your words.

The hypnotic sounds in 'All my Friends'.

Now I know you can think on a quite night

Transported to a place in which I am all wrapped
Not tight
Just a place
It is where it starts.

I was sat marking some essays on critical thinking. Written by Chinese students, listening to LCD Soundstsyem.

Andrew Duggan Jun 2017

Albacete

Soon I will come to the end of my journey
and another statue will disappear.
But you see you cannot **** the sculptor
Only hire the black priest to wash away your sins.

Your unkind words mean nothing to me
Life runs through your fingers like white sand
and many unborn days disturb your mindfulness.
The black priest cannot help you.

I sing to the same stars in Taiyuan
that I once sang to in Albacete with the Brigada Abraham Lincoln.
Then the Spanish people grieved for our going.
You only grieve for the shade of the evening
And the silence of the Fen river.

Andrew Duggan Jun 2017

Old Man

Old men drinking black water
Dogs of Taiyuan loosing hope

I saw a young woman,
27 already and loving another kind

A battered book under her arm
They can't see beyond today

The child looked at the Hulusi
An honest look, the laughter, the love

I gave her the cake
A fragment of what I felt

Mars Audiac Quintet in the background
Sean O'Hagen playing ping-pong

'A stamp of war then peel back
to square one and back for more'

Lu Yu asked me
"Why are you drinking black water?"

The woman came over and whispered in my ear
"L'amore est notre veritable destin"

Just like the first time.

I went to a cafe and watch a young woman with her child.

Andrew Duggan Jun 2017

Mad dogs and Englishmen in the Taiyuan Sun.

This morning I talked with a professor about Kant, the 'highest good' and 'moral motivation'.
Last week only the Marxist stood by me as the dogs of Shanxi barked out stories of unrequited love.
They say the sun can do strange things to a man. No stranger things than here in Taiyuan.
So I asked the professor if there are limitations to happiness. He said 'happiness is about faith'
So I went and told the Marxist about the sun, Kant and happiness

This was a reflection on a conversation I had this morning with a professor of philosophy I know

Andrew Duggan Jun 2017

The Snowmen With The Hat

I met two snowmen in Taiyuan today.
At least they told me they were snowmen.
To be honest I was not sure.

We talked about the snow, the stars and bullet trains to Beijing.
The one with the hat did most of the talking he grew moody and distant as the snow fell.

I wondered about the depth of a snowman's life.
The quite one asked me about my life. I was about to answer,
when he told me he had once told his life he wanted space.

The snowman with the hat then asked me
" Do you think consciousness only exists when the snow falls?"
I knew then the rain would come soon.

I was walking one day and came across two snowmen in the city.