Ffolkes,
Just so you know…..in order to deal more effectively with the lack of material in my head, I’ll be taking at least a couple days off, sort of. Not all the way off; I’ll be recycling older pearls. I figured out that, as I’ve been doing this for over 10 years, some of the older ones hadn’t been seen yet by some of the newer readers. A few days will suffice to both give them a treat from the past, and give my head some time to recuperate, and generate some more fresh food for thought…..that will begin tomorrow, so watch this space for blasts from the past…..
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A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow in the morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
— T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land
One of T.S.’s most powerful poems, and one of my favorites. A stiff and pointed stick jabbed right into the eye of society, making them see the stark landscape of modern life, devoid of compassion and joy. I’ll bet someone like Newt G. or Mitt R. would read this and feel very, very uncomfortable, without knowing why; but we would know, for it is a bitter condemnation of the modern way of life that venerates money, and ignores human suffering….
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“If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be … If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.” — Thomas Jefferson
“..it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.” That about says it all. This, then, is why we are being systematically oppressed by our own leadership. This is why “they” were able to deregulate the Bill of Rights, right in front of us, and almost nobody knows, or cares. The American public, for the largest part, has abrogated this responsibility; we can no longer call ourselves free men, for we have given it up in favor of a false sense of security, and misguided trust in people who claim to have our interests at heart, but in reality don’t even really like other Americans. I would guesstimate that over 90% of the voting public has no idea that the Bill of Rights has been declared null and void; hell, that number of them probably couldn’t even name the Bill of Rights. It is disgusting, and frustrating, and downright scary how little people seem to care about having volunteered to become slaves of the beloved ruling class. I’m tempted to give in to my baser urges, and start slapping people silly when they display their ignorance in public. It may not return the Bill of Rights, but I’ll sure feel better…..
“They have exiled me now from their society and I am pleased, because humanity does not exile except the one whose noble spirit rebels against despotism and oppression. He who does not prefer exile to slavery is not free by any measure of freedom, truth and duty” — Kahlil Gibran, from “Spirits Rebellious”
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” It is not the writer’s task to answer questions but to question answers. To be impertinent, and, if necessary, subversive.” — Edward Abbey
Perfect description of my attitude toward writing’s place in society; it couldn’t be said better. To be a gadfly, to question authority, to learn and share what is learned, regardless of who it embarrasses, this is the purpose a writer should always accept as integral to their work and expression. It wouldn’t be as necessary if people would just think for themselves, but it should be obvious by now that that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. If I were the kind of person who could just walk away from someone in need, maybe I could forgo some of what takes up so much of my time.
But, regardless of how stupid someone might be, they don’t deserve to be oppressed by assholes whose entire agenda is focused on self-aggrandizement. I still believe that anyone who actually WANTS to be an elected official in this country is clinically insane, with sociopathic tendencies. Only when one is blithely unconcerned with the fate of other people can one seek that much power over them. It’s just plain sick, and I intend to keep pointing it out until they’re all put in therapy, willing or not……
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“The land of the free! This is the land of the free! Why, if I say anything that displeases them, the free mob will lynch me, and that’s my freedom. Free? Why I have never been in any country where the individual has such an abject fear of his fellow countrymen. Because, as I say, they are free to lynch him the moment he shows he is not one of them.” — D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)
Hmmm…..I guess things around here haven’t changed so much after all. Mrs. Grundy and her ilk still oversee the morals of everyone else, shouting down any differences with strident cries of Infidel! Blasphemer!” At least here on the net, it’s still considered bad form to type in ALL CAPS…… but, we need to be careful; those who care about such things are still trying to get legislation passed that will attempt to censor what can be posted online, and limit what the net can be used for. Don’t let them do it; they’ve already taken too many of our rights as it is. We can’t afford to lose any more…..
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“Poetry has been to me “its own exceeding great reward;” it has soothed my afflictions; it has multiplied and refined my enjoyments; it has endeared solitude; and it has given me the habit of wishing to discover the good and the beautiful in all that meets and surrounds me.” — Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Me, too! As I’ve said before, or at least intimated, poetry is, in my humble opinion, the ultimate use of language; any idea expressed in a poem is more readily digestible to the human brain than any prose can possibly be. How many of us learned the alphabet by singing the “Alphabet Song”? The very basis of the written word, the alphabet, naturally lends itself to rhyming, which stimulates the mind to learn in a way that seamlessly coordinates with the way our minds perceive, so that deep knowledge is passed on with each short phrase, knowledge deeper than the mere meaning of each word, made clear to us by its structure, and organized compatibly by the cadence.
Perhaps that could be new project for me. I’ve never been happy with my own ability to produce a good poem; they always fall short of my expectations. Maybe it is time, now that I’ve had more experience with the language, to see if that experience has enhanced my creative side……hmmm, we’ll see……if anything moderately attractive comes of it, I’ll post it here, and take the risk of allowing others to see it, and judge its quality……
“A poet that fails in writing, becomes often a morose critic. The weak insipid white wine makes at length excellent vinegar.” — Shenstone
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Whew! Made it! I thought this would never end. Well, not really. It was enough fun that I lost track of where I was. But, we’ve finally come to a logical place to stop, so we’ll emulate Spock, and call it a day….. y’all take care out there…..
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Kowabunga!
gigoid 