Out of the American Tradition

[rowens]

My pride is Trungpa's cigarette.
My ambition is his booze.
My anxiety is his teenage wife.

[dukealien]

My pride is Trungpa's cigarette.
My ambition is his booze.
My anxiety is his teenage wife.

Being myself much (though not exclusively) in the American tradition, this one went so far over my head I didn't have to duck.  Like seeking deep meaning of quotes from the Egyptian Book of the Dead.  Salute to your wide-ranging!

It does seem to tell us something about both Trungpa and the speaker/viewpoint, using Western referents.  Very economically.

[rowens]

Out is out of and out from.

This is only three lines. But lineage and tradition, religious and literary, are somewhere. In and out.