An East Swell Coming

Joseph Conrad on futility, action, and fate.

They call them rogues
They travel fast and alone
One hundred foot faces
Of God’s good ocean gone wrong

—Brand New, “Play Crack the Sky”

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“The Voyage of Life: Manhood” by Thomas Cole, 1842.

I’ve been feeling listless lately. That’s an interesting word. It’s close enough to the nautical term listing that it evokes the image of a ship haplessly paused at an angle in the water after being savaged by a storm. Merriam-Webster will tell you it means “lacking bodily energy or motivation,” or, in a word, lethargy. But it’s worse than that. The real meaning is more profound. It cuts closer to the bone.