Word Note

avant-gardeI met a traveler from a modern landwho said: I used to think I knewwhat avant-garde meant, it meantnew art so advanced you can't understandit, like a chic perfume without a scent.An avant-garde poem was abstract youcould get rid of commas and capital lettersforget making sense dreams were betterirony mandatory and meaning arbitrarylike poker with blanks instead of cards.It was intimidating and I remained leeryuntil I met A. and his avant-garde smile:“Just do the opposite of whatever's in style,”he said with a wink when he won an award.“You see, it isn't so hard to be avant-garde.”DL

So unoriginal, I copied and pasted it.