Erased from Ch. VII of Nerves and Common Sense (1925) by Annie Payson Call
Some live in chronic time.
They do not find it,
they do not find it and they get ill.
It is really much the same,
keep a little stimulant
keep a bad habit.
We feel unnatural if we feel natural.
We are in it—but it is poison.
If a habit of
rocking or chattering
may feel unnatural and weird,
we wrench out these things
and yet the poisoning goes on.
When we are in a pretty bad way,
the worst know it.
I once lived in excitement,
dressed in excitement,
went to breakfast in excitement,
went about everyday excited.
Every event—little or big—was excitement.
Excitement over nothing.
We went deep in the woods and the mountains,
full of great powerful quiet.
When first there, excited about arrival,
excited about it,
but the night jumped in with torture.
I suddenly started up the trouble.
‘Oh, oh, the quiet! It is so quiet!’
Brain in whirl of excitement
felt pain when excitement touched it.
s. d. stewart 
Sigrun
/ October 31, 2012Just curious –
– How come you discovered Annie Payson Call? Can you tell me anything about her?
I have looked at some of her texts at Gutenberg, I do not believe they are written in a humorous mood, even it this is a tempting way to read her today, what do you think?
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birds fly
/ October 31, 2012I came across her while browsing through Gutenberg looking for potential erasure texts. I’d never heard of her before, but this article provides a little background. Most of the essays in this particular book were originally published as columns in Ladies’ Home Journal, and she is definitely serious about what she’s writing. I think some of her ideas have merit, while others are clearly dated.
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Sigrun
/ October 31, 2012Thank you!
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