(by carla gannis via bruce sterling on ello)
"I had come to believe that a poet had something in common with the Japanese violin maker who worked for fifty years to create his delicate wooden instrument. When a buyer came into his store, fell in love with the instrument, and offered the violin maker more money than he had ever been offered, the violin maker smiled and said, 'This violin is for my great-grandchild; it can't be played for fifty years.' Perhaps the past had to settle for awhile before music could be made of it." --Peter Balakian, Black Dog of Fate (1997)