From the Walls of Mr. James Odett

James V. Odett (1902-1963) lived his whole life in Winnipeg, Manitoba as an antiques dealer. His shop, Odett's Antiques, ran from 1923 at 1163 Portage Avenue until Mr. Odett became ill in the summer of 1962. Mr. Odett left behind a surprising amount of 'artwork' (poems, stories, drawings, paintings, even songs), which he stuffed into the walls of his house. It is only recently that we have discovered this (after some much needed renovations). The Council for Dissemination and Misappropriation (a group originally started my James himself, under the name The Misuse Society) here presents some of the materials uncovered. Mr. Odett often claimed that people from the future would steal his 'art', and that he often went into the future to take it back. The songwriter Butter Vaughn Kingson bases a lot of his music on the writings and 'artwork' of Mr. Odett.

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Sun Jun 7

O Majnoun!

O Majnoun! that sings that dead leaves fly higher.
O Majnoun! that speaks also between words.
O Majnoun! that does not sleep and pulls out the brain’s eyes like the moon does the tides, back and forth, and crashing on barren land.
O Majnoun! that dances (that portion of the floor that grabs the ballerina’s foot, that ache on bones and muscle).
O Majnoun! that consoles the silence of winter.
O Majnoun! that (once again) rises in the spring.

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