a new order

fragile heart, 24"x24", oil on canvas


*****

hmmm, the deaf-mute painter was neither deaf nor mute. he only appeared to be because he neither spoke nor understood what he heard. hmmms condition was such that the vibrations he made and heard were nothing but scrambled babble, yammering blather, goo-goo ga-ga baby gurgle.

regular deaf-mutes are either born with physical problems with the parts of their body that are required for speech or hearing, or they become mute or deaf as a result of an injury or disease.  in hmmms case, it was neither of these factors.  in fact, at one point in hmmm's life he was a much sought after public speaker, giving motivational speeches at political rallies, at university graduations. he even tutored martin luther king and abraham lincoln and julius ceasar.

this is hmmm's story of becoming a deaf-mute:

one afternoon, hmmm had just finished giving a particularly compelling speech on the ability of human beings to gather information at lightening speed and our subsequent ability to form split-second theories.  hmmm was receiving questions and responding to them as he always did in a half-hour question and answer period. on this day however, a young boy, maybe 6 or 7, climbed up on the questioners podium, stood there in silence, stared at hmmm.  after a long minute,  hmmm said, "hello young man, how can i help you?"  the boy didn't respond, stood motionless, continued staring. after another long minute, hmmm said, "come on now, young man, you can ask me anything." again, more silence, more stillness. the crowd began to shift uncomfortably. hmmm smiled uncomfortably.  the boy's eyes were locked, focused on hmmm and that's when it happened. that's when hmmm became a deaf-mute. it happened at the speed of sound. suddenly, the boy clapped his hands together and a crack of a clap like a whip split hurtled from the boys hands, pushing particles through space, exerting a force into hmmm's ears, entering into his being, splintering the atoms of his reasoning, pulverizing his cognitive abilities into a fine powder, into dust, into primordial matter. from that moment onwards, everything that hmmm heard and everything that hmmm said made no sense at all, was unrecognizable as language, and he ceased to talk and listen. he became a deaf-mute.

*****

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