Session IV (from transcript)<\/p>\n
DR.: You\u2019ve had this recurring dream for a couple of weeks, maybe we should talk about that today.<\/p>\n
OTTO: No \u2014<\/p>\n
DR.: I talked to the Directrix about your requests Otto. The matter is under consideration\u2014<\/p>\n
OTTO: Her answer of course is no.<\/p>\n
DR.: But you don\u2019t know that for a fact\u2014<\/p>\n
OTTO: Yes I do.<\/p>\n
Do you think my demands are unreasonable, Doctor?<\/p>\n
(silence)<\/p>\n
DR.: What does mean for you to be able to clean your own cell Otto? Does it give you a sense of autonomy? A sense of home, or control over your own environment?<\/p>\n
OTTO: Why don\u2019t you give me your own expert opinion doctor, why do we need to clean our rooms\u2014<\/p>\n
DR.: But we are all different Otto, me making my bed and smoothing the sheets is not quite the same thing as you. I suspect there might be some butterfly effect involved\u2014<\/p>\n
OTTO: You suspect or they suspect?<\/p>\n
DR.: If you had to choose between the sleep regulator and cell maintenance, which would you choose?<\/p>\n
OTTO: Well one goes with the other\u2014I can\u2019t very well be doped up and scrubbing my own floors. Doesn\u2019t work that way.<\/p>\n
DR.: I noticed your quarters are well kept.<\/p>\n
OTTO: It\u2019s hardly the point. Tell the Directrix I also have an additional request\u2014<\/p>\n
DR: Isn\u2019t that pushing it a little\u2014<\/p>\n
OTTO: I also wish to be let out into the garden at daybreak.<\/p>\n
DR: Any particular reason?<\/p>\n
OTTO: I want to hear the birds singing.<\/p>\n
DR: Any particular reason?<\/p>\n
OTTO: Yes. Of course there is a particular reason, am I going to divulge it to you? Perhaps you can see the folly in that\u2014<\/p>\n
DR: Wherein lies the folly?<\/p>\n
OTTO: If I am trying to conceal something, why would I reveal it to the surveillance camera? I would like to end the session right now.<\/p>\n
DR.: I\u2019m the doctor not you Otto.<\/p>\n
OTTO: That\u2019s right, I am the patient and I\u2019d like to go back to my cell please.<\/p>\n
PAULINE
\nI signal for the guards to come in. She sits there, a dark elegant sea of calm. A severe enigma, prison garb hanging off her frame: avant couture. When the guards arrive for her, she offers her neck, the crystal inserts and in seconds her head falls back into unconsciousness. Of a sort\u2014I wonder if she was conscious of me in her quarters. How much does she know? How much am I oblivious to?
\nI find my way through the echoing maze of corridors and sunset shards, on my way to report to Madame la Directrix\u2014even though she has been watching the entire session on the surveillance monitors. There is the early evening hum all about, the shuffling of inmates and duties. Several administrators walk past me with curt nods, if they are attempting to make me feel small and insignificant\u2014they are succeeding.<\/p>\n
The Directrix of V\u00e9zelay occupies quarters of spare and sleek opulence, the subliminal graphic quality of \u201cnothing in excess\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cSo, Dr. Diallo\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cCan you explain to me why her demands are so unreasonable\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cSurely you must have intuited the reasons\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cYou are going to have to be a little more explicit, it doesn\u2019t seem all that unreasonable to me. I often do laundry or clean out my drawers to relieve myself from stress. Otto could simply want the same\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cIt is very elementary doctor, the most basic of all magicks\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cCleaning your room is magic?\u201d
\n\u201cIt is possessing control over your environment. You may recall the myths of genies in the bottle, the rubbing of the lamp\u2014even the discovery of fire \u2018frottage\u201d\u2014rubbing, polishing, striking\u2014all these things invoke the powers that be in a place, the latent electrons, sleeping dragons\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cI see. Why is it so terrible to be in control of one\u2019s immediate environment?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause the next step is to then recreate it as a simulacrum of the existing world, and as you might imagine, in this case it would be disastrous,\u201d
\n\u201cMay I be frank\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t see what I\u2019m doing here. I feel a little out of my depth \u2014so much of this is outside my area of expertise\u2014which is child psychiatry, not the occult\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cDo you not feel you are making significant progress with the patient?\u201d
\n\u201cTo be honest I really don\u2019t think I am equipped to deal with Otto.” Or you for that matter. The Directrix suppresses a smile:
\n\u201cDr. Diallo, we summoned you here not because of your expertise in our specific circumstance\u2014but more so because of your background. Not only have your worked successfully with problem children\u2014you also have the same cultural\/ political make up as Otto. You are closer in age and empathy to her and you are American. She likes you\u2014and I believe that is mutual. I can play all the mind games I want with Otto, but I will not inspire her to curtail her ways. This is your job Doctor. Unravel her, we need to know what she is up to.\u201d
\nAgain the condescension: how long must I put up with this?
\n\u201cThen I\u2019d appreciate some sort of carte blanche. It\u2019s not just about establishing trust\u2014but also confidence\u2014maybe her medication can be decreased so that she can spend a half hour in the garden at daybreak and then clean her room. Then she can be put back to sleep.\u201d
\n\u201cYou really have no idea about Otto. What you are proposing is risky,\u201d
\n\u201cNo. But I do know we won\u2019t make any headway if there is no acquiescence. Bon soir, Madame.\u201d
\nI get up and leave, the Directrix rises\u2014
\n\u201cHave a care Doctor,do not give Otto permission to enter your head\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cMeaning?\u201d
\n\u201cWhen she says she wants to \u201cshow you\u201d things\u2014do not concede. Also, don\u2019t speak to her in her sleep state\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cYou\u2019ve mentioned this before, why?\u201d
\n\u201cIf she gets into your head and you will cease to be objective\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cIsn\u2019t this the meaning of empathy, what you\u2019ve hired me for?\u201d
\nI don\u2019t wait for her response. Exit.<\/p>\n
Dinner bells are chiming. I pass by the refrectory, resolving to dine\u2014but the empty hall is too disheartening. Most prisoners prefer to dine in their own cells and indeed the establishment encourages this. The staff: the librarians, the orderlies,\u2014all seem to dine in cliques in their own quarters, or sometimes I have spotted them going into the village. I notify one of the kitchen staff that a dinner tray should be left in my study.<\/p>\n
This is my life at V\u00e9zelay\u2014it\u2019s been only a week, but if feels like a year of solitude. I walk down the hill into the vineyards avoiding the sparsely populated village.<\/p>\n
In the sky a flock of swallows execute their military maneuvers: they swoop, dive, curve effortlessly\u2014 why do they do that? In the vineyards, there is an ancient stone path\u2014something leftover from Roman times \u2014 it leads into the forest. Walking, crushing new twigs. Thinking: druids, sacrifice, virgins\u2026 Darkening mood, darkening ponds, still, with shafts of light, shadow: ancient fires raging\u2026
\nEvery time we lose something we switch it on\u2026
\nIs that you, Otto?
\nDruid shades emerge in the dusk and startle me. Beyond, the fortress of V\u00e9zelay: burial ground of Mary Magdalen\u2019s relics…<\/p>\n
V\u00e9zelay: a resting place, dust radiated and forbidding.<\/p>\n
The Sea of Lightning \u00a92004, 2013 onome ekeh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Session IV (from transcript) DR.: You\u2019ve had this recurring dream for a couple of weeks, maybe we should talk about that today. OTTO: No \u2014 DR.: I talked to the Directrix about your requests Otto. The matter is under consideration\u2014 OTTO: Her answer of course is no. DR.: But you don\u2019t know that for a fact\u2014 OTTO: Yes I do. Do you think my demands are unreasonable, Doctor? (silence) DR.: What does mean for you to be able to clean your own cell Otto? Does it give you a sense of autonomy? A sense of home, or control over your own environment? OTTO: Why don\u2019t you give me your own expert opinion doctor, why do we need to clean our rooms\u2014 DR.: But we are all different Otto, me making my bed and smoothing the sheets is not quite the same thing as you. I suspect there might be some butterfly effect involved\u2014 OTTO: You suspect or they suspect? DR.: If you had to choose between the sleep regulator and cell maintenance, which would you choose? OTTO: Well one goes with the other\u2014I can\u2019t very well be doped up and scrubbing my own floors. Doesn\u2019t work that way. DR.: I noticed your quarters are well kept. OTTO: It\u2019s hardly the point. Tell the Directrix I also have an additional request\u2014 DR: Isn\u2019t that pushing it a little\u2014 OTTO: I also wish to be let out into the garden at daybreak. DR: Any particular reason? OTTO: I want to hear the birds singing. DR: Any particular reason? OTTO: Yes. Of course there is a particular reason, am I going to divulge it to you? Perhaps you can see the folly in that\u2014 DR: Wherein lies the folly? OTTO: If I am trying to conceal something, why would I reveal it to the surveillance camera? I would like to end the session right now. DR.: I\u2019m the doctor not you Otto. OTTO: That\u2019s right, I am the patient and I\u2019d like to go back to my cell please. PAULINE I signal for the guards to come in. She sits there, a dark elegant sea of calm. A severe enigma, prison garb hanging off her frame: avant couture. When the guards arrive for her, she offers her neck, the crystal inserts and in seconds her head falls back into unconsciousness. Of a sort\u2014I wonder if she was conscious of me in her quarters. How much does she know? How much am I oblivious to? I find my way through the echoing maze of corridors and sunset shards, on my way to report to Madame la Directrix\u2014even though she has been watching the entire session on the surveillance monitors. There is the early evening hum all about, the shuffling of inmates and duties. Several administrators walk past me with curt nods, if they are attempting to make me feel small and insignificant\u2014they are succeeding. The Directrix of V\u00e9zelay occupies quarters of spare and sleek opulence, the subliminal graphic quality of \u201cnothing in excess\u2014\u201d \u201cSo, Dr. Diallo\u2014\u201d \u201cCan you explain to me why her demands are so unreasonable\u2014\u201d \u201cSurely you must have intuited the reasons\u2014\u201d \u201cYou are going to have to be a little more explicit, it doesn\u2019t seem all that unreasonable to me. I often do laundry or clean out my drawers to relieve myself from stress. Otto could simply want the same\u2014\u201d \u201cIt is very elementary doctor, the most basic of all magicks\u2014\u201d \u201cCleaning your room is magic?\u201d \u201cIt is possessing control over your environment. You may recall the myths of genies in the bottle, the rubbing of the lamp\u2014even the discovery of fire \u2018frottage\u201d\u2014rubbing, polishing, striking\u2014all these things invoke the powers that be in a place, the latent electrons, sleeping dragons\u2014\u201d \u201cI see. Why is it so terrible to be in control of one\u2019s immediate environment?\u201d \u201cBecause the next step is to then recreate it as a simulacrum of the existing world, and as you might imagine, in this case it would be disastrous,\u201d \u201cMay I be frank\u2014\u201d \u201cWhat is it?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t see what I\u2019m doing here. I feel a little out of my depth \u2014so much of this is outside my area of expertise\u2014which is child psychiatry, not the occult\u2014\u201d \u201cDo you not feel you are making significant progress with the patient?\u201d \u201cTo be honest I really don\u2019t think I am equipped to deal with Otto.” Or you for that matter. The Directrix suppresses a smile: \u201cDr. Diallo, we summoned you here not because of your expertise in our specific circumstance\u2014but more so because of your background. Not only have your worked successfully with problem children\u2014you also have the same cultural\/ political make up as Otto. You are closer in age and empathy to her and you are American. She likes you\u2014and I believe that is mutual. I can play all the mind games I want with Otto, but I will not inspire her to curtail her ways. This is your job Doctor. Unravel her, we need to know what she is up to.\u201d Again the condescension: how long must I put up with this? \u201cThen I\u2019d appreciate some sort of carte blanche. It\u2019s not just about establishing trust\u2014but also confidence\u2014maybe her medication can be decreased so that she can spend a half hour in the garden at daybreak and then clean her room. Then she can be put back to sleep.\u201d \u201cYou really have no idea about Otto. What you are proposing is risky,\u201d \u201cNo. But I do know we won\u2019t make any headway if there is no acquiescence. Bon soir, Madame.\u201d I get up and leave, the Directrix rises\u2014 \u201cHave a care Doctor,do not give Otto permission to enter your head\u2014\u201d \u201cMeaning?\u201d \u201cWhen she says she wants to \u201cshow you\u201d things\u2014do not concede. Also, don\u2019t speak to her in her sleep state\u2014\u201d \u201cYou\u2019ve mentioned this before, why?\u201d \u201cIf she gets into your head and you will cease to be objective\u2014\u201d \u201cIsn\u2019t this the meaning of empathy, what you\u2019ve hired me for?\u201d I don\u2019t wait for her response. 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