Juan Gris, “Guitare sur une table,” from 1916, at Helly Nahmad. Credit via Helly Nahmad Gallery.

The Poet sat in a dive on 52nd Street “uncertain and afraid.” I sit in a shed on 3rd Street where I, too, watch “the clever dreams expire of a low, dishonest decade.” The manic hubbub of tear-it-downers and bust-it-uppers and look-at-miners washes over the world like a toxic red tide.

For respite from anomie I resort to the guitar fretboard. It supports a lifetime of soothing obsession. Full disclosure: I haven’t read Maimonides. I know him only by name and reputation. My version of his title reflects a conviction that the best guide for the perplexed is the perplexed.

And here we go:

Guitar strings are numbered 1 through 6, tuned E-B-G-D-A-E unless you learned them 6 through 1 in E-A-D-G-B-E order, as I did. For a mnemonic phrase, use “Easter Bunnies Get Drunk At Easter” or vice versa according to the situation.

With string nomenclature and tuning mastered, it’s time for Octave-of-Following (OOF) state, coming next.

(c) 2019 JMN