a teacher made of mud

Ever read The Mahabharata? There's a story about a boy who wants to be a warrior. He goes and finds a teacher but the teacher keeps putting him off. So the boy builds a copy of the teacher made of mud and he washes it every day, and he learns to do his thing. And the whole symbolism is that the teacher is inside. I made teachers out of Ray Charles, Billie Holliday, Dylan, Judy Garland. I learned about phrasing, pitch, everything.

-- Jeff Buckley, 1993

Some of my teachers are made of mud. See-through mud. Jeff Buckley is one of my teachers made of mud.

I have a Eugenio from his books, made of mud of sun and moonlight. I have a Eugenio who is a sharp, present man in sandals, blinking and watching the actors.