Arnold Trampe sent me a happy-birthday mobile-phone text-message. “Thanks,” I responded, but I inserted into the word a bunch of characters that are used in comics in place of profanities. “Yes,” he responded, “not much is left of this once-mighty warrior!” He also mentioned that he had just turned sixty and that he thus shared my feelings. “Right,” I wrote back. “But the fight continues, albeit by other means. And the victory shines ahead!” I wished him a happy birthday, too. “You’re an optimist,” Arnold concluded our exchange on a pessimistic note. One way or another, though, only a shining victory becomes once-mighty warriors like me. Nothing else would do even on a birthday well past celebrating. Or even mentioning.

Addendum (April 18, 2012)

Soon after this piece was posted on my Residua website, Hrvoje Bielen sent me a terse mobile-phone text-message: “Keep fighting!” I was delighted to hear from him, for we had not been in touch for a while. Thus we exchanged a few more messages. Returning to the fight, there is hardly any option but to keep fighting by whatever means. And without any thought of victory. Shining or not, it is entirely irrelevant, as The Bhagavad Gita points out so palpably. I was only kidding about victory in my response to Arnold, it goes without saying.