index card: chymical reaction, stoicism and telepathy
The other day I borrowed the digital copy of The wind-up bird chronicle from my local library. Unfortunately, time hasn't allowed for a second read as much as I know I would enjoy it. I've also convinced myself that I should re-read The chymical wedding but…
There's a stanza from Uninvited that uses the word stoic and squirm in the same line.
Must be strangely exciting
To watch the stoic squirm
Must be somewhat heartening
To watch shepherd meet shepherd
Lines 3 and 4 connect with me as a lesson learnt from adolescence. Tension and emotional heightening build for this delicate scene involving menstruation cycles/cramps, jock itch/crabs, and the taboo of young love for which I am channeling blanks. I have a suspicion that the answer may lay in My dark Vanessa. The first occurrence of the modal verb 'must be' seems intuitive of orgasms and dry humping, yet, shepherd meet shepherd is something I cannot place, unless that BILLBOARD from the 90s depicting an 8 month pregnant woman caused an unsettling feeling (in MC) as though he was placing the pregnancy as that from an old flame. She-bird archaically replacing the word shepherd for clarity in meaning "attractive woman" who meets the woman on the BILLBOARD, but this is far from heartening for MC.
I guess, depending on whom we hear the words coming from, a necessity of heartening for MC might be the alternative to a very dangerous and risky fork in the road for our protagonist. This sequence should definitely be a high point upon introducing the b-story.