We had Won thing in common We were consumers Of the evil of two lessers As if Only just At last Defeat the enemy Within Hour strangled democracy Won wring Too rule them all Sending US too Our eternal reward That second coming Over And over
Countless millions only wish for it all to be over on the impending dawn of won of the greatest daze in American democracy. The passive-aggressive cycle of non-election years and election years strikes me as absurdly dysfunctional. This absurdity is heightened in presidential election years (or is that non-presidential?). In a numbing normality, worker alienation, blind consumerism, and inane entertainment maintain a trifecta of blessed passivity and hegemonic conformity punctuated by learned helplessness. That’s the non-presidential years. In presidential election years, our absurdity is traded up to the mirrorly surreal. More like reality (sic) television than democracy, viewers — formerly known as citizens — are granted the high tech, virtual reality illusion that their voting for the winners, and decidedly losers, of American Monarch, is a sacred choice worthy of our waning humanity. What we want, we want so desperately to be over. Little do we realize that the unending cycle of fomented yearnings met with chronically new and improved unmet needs is perfectly consonant with our lifetime of socialization and domestication as consumers. Work, buy, consume, die. That we are literally consuming the planet should come as no surprise. That in exchange for this we accept a few good jobs and a lot of crappy jobs (though 2 or 3 apiece), should be met with outright rebellion. When winning ultimately feels like losing, and it only feels better when it stops, it may be a good time to stop drinking the Kool-Aid™. It’s time to raze the bar.
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POEM: Innocence — An Owed In A Sense Her innocence Was immune to their dis ease As be wilder And a tempt However tempered Only to be Dis missed As just A guile His innocence Deified awe bravery In the face Of accusations summoned As subdude As never a cur to them Posing the quest in Guise will Be guise Her bosom leaped […]...
POEM: Breath of Fresh Heir Each mourning Brings that which is light Though wanting to rest As the whirled spins under my feet I am Still Razed Too my feat Standing on Perhaps a singular word Mysteriously helled Together In God-ordained gravity Until that thirst Breath of fresh heir As awe is knew This poem is about coming out of […]...
Every wear but hear Beeping phones And nobody at home Impossible to a tone Even with wringing personally With poor timing Watching volumes A little too lewd Mindless won And awe the artless With every bell and whistle Ears unplugged Irking their responsibility In all do coarse As a pester chide for Every imaginable Impertinent busyness Craven for unsound practices In the face Of boorish applications Inane games Of hashtag One trivial hi After another As drug nowhere fast My only resort A pun with a silencer Putting on Quiet a show Only now As if Stuck up Harass Muted To match The best of them Dumb typists Trans mitting Techs massages Ghostily beyond their reach Inescapably com posing As virtual monkeys Only slightly more Than shake a spear Pointing fingers At key boreds As some incanting spell And in such easy fancy Imagine many fates Worse than deaf
This poem is about one of my pet peeves: noise pollution. This is some indication of how wonderful my life is, that such a first world problem lingers near the top of my list. The mental and spiritual pollution of unwanted noise and glaring lights captures my attention far too often. As a free range human being, I am cell free (exceptions made for civil disobedience). The long tentacles of Western civilization purport freedom as being wired without wires, in sum sort of civil religion. Such annoys pollution is closely related to a leading candidate for the biggest myth of modern progress: that multi-tasking improves our lives. Multi-tasking may make sense if the point is to make a race of better virtual monkey slaves, but multi-taking is the enema of mindfulness and how trying it is to do too much shit. Perhaps the most useful definition of Zen that I have ever heard is this: do one thing. When smart phones are employed as multi-tasking machines, such so-called technological progress is analogous to the infamous anarchist slogan: “Bigger cages, longer chains!” If this is smart, then I prefer dumb — or perhaps, shut the f__k up!
I wrote this poem while on a long bus ride with plenty of multi-tasking smartphone cyborgs. I was largely spared of such an invasion due to my sage employment of a low-tech solution called earplugs. Plus, witnessing people trying to do too much shit provided fertile ground for an even lower tech resolution: writing poetry about whatever issues emerge from my life at the moment. Or, as poets are apt to say. “It happens.”
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POEM: Innocence — An Owed In A Sense Her innocence Was immune to their dis ease As be wilder And a tempt However tempered Only to be Dis missed As just A guile His innocence Deified awe bravery In the face Of accusations summoned As subdude As never a cur to them Posing the quest in Guise will Be guise Her bosom leaped […]...
POEM: Breath of Fresh Heir Each mourning Brings that which is light Though wanting to rest As the whirled spins under my feet I am Still Razed Too my feat Standing on Perhaps a singular word Mysteriously helled Together In God-ordained gravity Until that thirst Breath of fresh heir As awe is knew This poem is about coming out of […]...
Wherever I land
In the electoral whirled
Politicians ceremoniously execute
The will of the people
In doctored fashion
Yet an other sort of capitol punishment
Delegated to the coroner
Turning voting off
In a Pyrrhic victory
So hollowed by those bored of elections
As a so low survivor
Left to re-collect
In suing came pain
Promises unfulfilled
A small prize to pay
For virtual democracy
Only calling to mine
Survivor
As democracy
In reality
Only on TV
Here is a poem for election time. While citizens have been cynical about politicians for eons, politicians are digging new versions of low at record rates. For decades, America has had one of the lowest rates of voting of any so-called advanced democracies. This poem does take its titular metaphor from the television age and the more recent reality (sic) television. Run-of-the-mill electoral politics is so bad, like “reality” TV, that most of it is not even worth watching, a palpable waste of one’s precious life. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not against voting. For most non-voting citizens, voting oneself off the island is hardly a very productive way of bringing about participatory democracy. In the pantheon of inane activities competing for our attention, and often winning, voting is still worthy of the modest effort required. Still, I doubt that electoral politics is anywhere sufficient to save the planet or humanity. Most of electoral politics is reactionary, cynically triangulating competing interests without much internal compass. Though politicians are regularly without distinguishable rudders, they can be quite adept at blowing whichever way the wind blows — everything is for sail! So, if not too disgusting, do yourself a flavor and vote for a politician closest to your taste. But don’t let voting get in the way of creating the winds of change necessary to redeem electoral politics. Participatory democracy requires ongoing civic engagement. The quality of our democracy will be directly rooted in the degree by which we are the change we want to see in the world, how we treat our neighbors (friends, strangers, and enemies) and how well we speak truth to power, translating our own lives into vital and vibrant community. May it be so.
Charlie’s life was full Every available space laden to wrest His productivity well suited To his interests Taxidermy and robotics
This short poem offers a challenge to what it means to have a full life in modern Western civilization, where increasing speed and productivity are worshiped as the means to a good life. I am a big fan of rest and empty spaces as an essential way to fully round out one’s life. Our culture’s addiction to productivity, fitting in (“well suited”), and a focus on narrow interests has most of us bamboozled. In this poem, the inane and the productive meet in the metaphor of taxidermy and robotics, representing the deadening and dehumanizing effects of an overfull life. This metaphor also juxtaposes vocation and avocation, where it is unclear what is a job and what is a hobby. While this may be confusing, it hints at the underlying connection that a capitalistic culture makes. Capitalism works best when we devote ourselves to both work/productivity AND inane consumerism. Capitalism wants to own both vocation and avocation. Of course, an endless array of inane avocations are offered, as long as they support the consumption of some product or service, hopefully in the service of distracting you from the emptiness of your “full” life and the avaricious nature of endless “growth.”
Emptiness can be revolutionary. This is why capitalism works best when it crams every available space with inane crap. Capitalism’s very life depends on it. Surely, capitalism must provide abundant avenues to distract us from our emptiness. However, emptiness is not empty! If we sit with our emptiness, in the sense of lack of fulfillment, this will foment unrest poorly suited for capitalism. Even further, in experiencing empty spaces and silence, we expand our perspective, the framework upon which we see things, allowing us to truly grow. Buddhists and Taoists are particularly adept at exploring such realities. Deists might frame this as silence being the language of God, that small, still voice.
After experiencing a period of relaxation, have you ever then experienced increased anxiety or dread when “going back to work” appears on the horizon? In a life abundant in balance and wisdom, while work requires effort, it does not require dread. Dread is a sign of imbalance. Chronic dread signifies a shortage of wisdom. Dread speaks to us. One of the central concepts (the first of the Four Noble Truths) of Buddhism is often stated in English as “Life is suffering.” I have heard this elaborated upon as realizing that life requires effort (work). Work is not the enemy. Work is an integral part of life — as is rest . The issue becomes how to achieve balance and minimize suffering. I like the image of breathing in and out as a metaphor for balance. Questioning whether breathing in or out is better misses the point — as is often the case in Western convergent thinking. If you do ask which is better, the only sensible response is “what did you do last?” If work causes anxiety, then rest. If rest causes anxiety, then work. If everything causes you anxiety, then look to emptiness. Of course, emptiness often looks like rest, but there is good work to be done there…
This simple poem is a parody of commercialism. This poem mocks the lack of real content in many advertisements. Unfortunately, countless advertisements bombard most any available space in our lives. Such ads compete for our valuable attention and threaten to fill our minds with inane content My poem does have some real content though — yes, that is my real phone number.
In the tree of life I take my leave Looking not To politicians, generals, celebrities, or philanthropists For salvation Re-lying not On triangulating hourly opinions In gluttonous cynicism That fuels no bodies everywhere But their own Leaning not On skulking intelligence And hulking legions Bulwarking the eternal fewed With the shock and awe of epic fauxs Not giving my nod To looking glass likenesses Endorsing make up For broken weighs of life Nor counting on Oversized purses Itemizing riddled coffers Curmudgeoning us to death Only bequeathing Close-fisted sermonettes Instead I look to Neighbors As well as I kin And friends in deed Awe ways in courage So gorge us Prone to gentleness To won another A parent And a peer In our wake We gather intimately Cultivating our bounty Where everyone is a head And strangers honor guessed Only kneading dough To break bread Round the table At know time Turing on us a test Knot on your life Leaving no one behind Never wanton too leave
This poem strikes again at my frequent theme of the inane versus the meaningful, pitting the superficial and dehumanizing forces of the powers that be against more intimate and personal ways of relating to one another. The poem also intimates the bounty of healthy human community that wins hands down (and fists down) against lesser machinations of the political, military, famous, and monied.
I feel obliged to disclose the most obscure pun in this poem, lest it be gravely mistaken as a typo or such. Turing on us a test is an alliterative pun for turning (e.g., turning the tables), but also a reference to the Turing test which is used to distinguish a human being from a machine (human intelligence versus artificial intelligence).
I find the notion that humans are just complicated dirt as both bizarre and dangerously foolish. If humanity cannot distinguish between itself and inanimate matter, then we should hold very little expectations for humans and any higher potential. The rationale that seems compelling to some, that we are merely some type of biological computer, leaves the human heart empty, sterile, out of reach, and puzzlingly irrelevant. Anyone committed to reducing all human friendship, love, joy, hope, and faith to deterministic factors (mere machinations) is an amputator of humanity and a denier of the mystery of life. My hope with this poem is to remind folks that living into the mysterious grace of life, particularly human life, when shared, not denied, leads to growth of said life.
The title of this poem, and its final line, Never wanton too leave,beckons the metaphor of the tree of life. We are each a leaf on the tree of life, we cannot live alone yet we are an important part. There is both a profound humility and sacred value in being human. May we never be less than we were created to be, nor overblown, in finding our way in life.
My life is very Scuffed up Round the edges Hither too Better than A scarecrow Keeping Snobs a way As they brood Over heir dues Wile They are off Making hay Their own Abrade Turning straw men Into goaled Only for stalling Such rumpled stilt skin As tress up And wig out Combing the whirled As eye sport A primordial stile Simply a tease Even within The realm Of possibility Dread locks Or without Mull it over As if Disguise a loser Uncaptivated buy genteel waves For going AWW That you are Blowing in the wind Air to the throne
This poem is an ode to living on the fringe, even if your life becomes somewhat scuffed up. Living on the edge can be in stark contrast to the conventional wisdom and way of life in the dominant culture of so-called Western civilization. Concern about status and appearance, as well as a fixation on material conveniences, drives many to trade deeper meaning for inane existence.
Many settle for a life too easily demarcated by stereotypes and oversimplifications. I like to joke that my long hair is for the convenience of others in easily identifying me as a “hippie,” so they don’t need to spend much time really getting to know me — which is to love me! Using the metaphor in this poem, my hair serves as a scarecrow to drive off superficial people. Encountering stereotypes which make one uncomfortable can serve as a simple weeding out mechanism. Of course, those that really know me, know why I have long hair, and why I pray for the day to cut my hair. Also, those that really know me know that I don’t cringe from the label “hippie,” but it is a poor approximation of my character and life. I am not particularly “hip,” my sexual mores are “live and let live” but hardly a free for all, and I like my consciousness unadulterated by drugs.
I try to assume that people are irreducibly eccentric and idiosyncratic. In short, I believe that every person is infinitely interesting. Of course, spending a great deal of our time exploring these individualities cuts into the efficiency of reducing people to shorthand stereotypes, placing them in definable little boxes, so that we can navigate people more like things and life can be more predictable. Some of this is inescapable as we have to form an impression, however tentative or temporary, about people. The dangerous temptation that is a threat to humanity is to solidify our views of people and discounting their unfathomable humanity for our convenience and striving for efficiency and productivity. This can blur the immeasurable difference between human lives and things.
I propose that a wise precept would be that, if in doubt, choose people over things — every time! Perhaps the most valuable gift we can give one another is our presence. Who wants to compete with another’s interest in inanimate matter (or inane matters) rather than have another lovingly delve into the whole of who we are? Of course, simply being with someone, spending time with someone else, is a profound vote for how much you value them. This is much more the currency of life than money and stuff. We are so much more than dust in the wind, even stardust in the celestial wind; and whatever that “so much more” is is what we should pay attention to, if we want to participate in life, not simply have a life lived for us, as if we were simply complicated dirt. We are not blowing in the wind, air to the throne…a scarecrow’s doo.
I see tragedy in the world Not as the enemy To be retreated from Nor as an accident Captivating my perverse stares Rather a musing These puzzling pieces Of my heart Shuttered into a million pieces In chanting invitations Entranced overtures Moving beyond words As a gait way To the presents Of an unbroken whole
This is yet another poem about hope, a familiar theme of mine. With all of the tragedy in the world, it can be difficult to have a light heart. I often muse that I have to laugh to keep from crying. This seems to me to be a basic choice of perspective to bring to life. How should I orient my attitude in life? Staring at tragedy can become a perverse rubber-necking, like seeing a wreck that you can’t seem to take your eyes off. My personality is built in such a way that I easily see the falling short of any given situation compared to some more perfect ideal, or even the being aware of multiple perspectives or choices that are equally inane, in some banal equivalency. The former is a perspective of idealism. The latter tempts infinite forms of nihilism, all leading the same place: nowhere. Perhaps needless to say, I identify much more strongly with idealism. I deal with -isms all the time! For me, the decisive factor in choosing between idealism and nihilism is a devotion to a positive outlook. Great minds have pondered the tally between good and evil, and it seems that it may be a close call. Some try to escape the question by believing that it doesn’t matter, that it’s all the same. Of course, it does matter what we believe. Some times believing is seeing. I’m betting my life that good is stronger than evil, or simply that I am going to try really hard to be on the side of good. I see a major developmental task in life as sorting out my relationship with the One, which some may call God, perhaps Tao, or even hope. This always takes place in context of the myriad of things, the many, the stuff of our everyday life. This poem alludes to our hearts being shattered and shuttered into a million pieces. The poem ends with the epic allure of an unbroken whole, or perhaps, within human capabilities, healing and reconciliation of broken and estranged people. The transition, the path, the opening between, mere musings and such a desired positive state, is filled with invitations/overtures, most of which will go unanswered/unfulfilled, and movement beyond words to action. This requires taking the lead. This requires inviting people to be better when being worse seems much more plausible or practical. This requires my own volition of acting better when being worse seems much more plausible or practical. My best, most simple definition of leadership is this: bringing out the best in others. I have hope because it brings the best out in me. May our highest hopes incarnate hope for one another. Make it so…
Martin Luther King Day is coming up on January 20, 2014. MLK Day is celebrated in the U.S. on the third Monday of every January. The first official celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as a federal holiday in the U.S., was 1986. This upcoming MLK Day will be the 29th annual celebration. Many younger folk will not remember a time without a MLK Day holiday. However, much like Dr. King’s long-haul struggles, getting an official King holiday met with strong resistance for a long time.
“Congressman John Conyers, an African-American Democrat from Michigan, spearheaded the movement to establish a MLK day. Representative Conyers worked in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and was elected to Congress in 1964, where he championed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Four days after King’s assassination in 1968, Conyers introduced a bill that would make January 15 a federal holiday in King’s honor. But Congress was unmoved by Conyers’ entreaties, and though he kept reviving the bill, it kept failing in Congress.
In 1970, Conyers convinced New York’s governor and New York City’s mayor to commemorate King’s birthday, a move that the city of St. Louis emulated in 1971. Other localities followed, but it was not until the 1980s that Congress acted on Conyers’ bill. By this time, the congressman had enlisted the help of popular singer Stevie Wonder, who released the song “Happy Birthday” for King in 1981, and Conyers had organized marches in support of the holiday-in 1982 and 1983, respectively.
Conyers was finally successful when he reintroduced the bill in 1983. But even in 1983 support was not unanimous. In the House of Representatives, William Dannemeyer, a Republican from California, led the opposition to the bill, arguing that it was too expensive to create a federal holiday and estimating that it would cost the federal government $225 million annually in lost productivity. Reagan’s administration concurred with Dannemeyer’s arguments, but the House passed the bill with a vote of 338 for and 90 against.
When the bill reached the Senate, the arguments opposing the bill were less grounded in economics and more reliant on outright racism. Senator Jesse Helms, a Democrat from North Carolina, held a filibuster against the bill and demanded the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) make public its files on King, asserting that King was a Communist who did not deserve the honor of a holiday. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had investigated King throughout the late 1950s and 1960s at the behest of its chief, J. Edgar Hoover, and had even tried intimidation tactics against King, sending the civil rights leader a note in 1965 that suggested he kill himself to avoid embarrassing personal revelations hitting the media.
King, of course, was not a Communist and had broken no federal laws, but by challenging the status quo, King and the Civil Rights Movement discomfited the Washington establishment. Charges of Communism were a popular way to discredit people who dared speak truth to power during the 50s and 60s, and King’s opponents made liberal use of that tactic.
When Helms tried to revive that tactic, Reagan defended him. A reporter asked Reagan about the charge of Communist against King, and Reagan said that Americans would find out in around 35 years, referring to the length of time before any material the FBI gathers on a subject could be released. Reagan later apologized, and a federal judge blocked the release of King’s FBI files.
Conservatives in the Senate tried to change the name of the bill to “National Civil Rights Day” as well, but they failed to do so. The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 78 for and 22 against. Reagan capitulated, signing the bill into law.”
It wasn’t until November 2, 1983, that President Reagan signed the bill that made Martin Luther King Day an official federal holiday, to be first celebrated on January 20, 1986.
I have a tradition of attending our local community-wide annual MLK celebration. In Toledo this event is called a “unity” celebration. I find the theme of unity somewhat incongruous with the divisive issues that Dr. King boldly and controversially confronted and persistently pursued. These celebrations seem much closer to “have a nice day” than “get jailed for justice.” While I consider it a victory to have won official recognition of Dr. King’s life and life’s work in the form of a governmental and nationwide celebration, the institutionalization of Dr. King’s institution-challenging message and life’s work is problematic. Of course, hard-fought victories can never be permanently institutionalized, but must be fought and re-fought by spirited and compassionate folks across generations. Institutions tend to be guardians of the past and the status quo. Fully alive people need to secure the day and the future. Like they say: activism is the rent you must pay for living on this planet. Otherwise our lives will face foreclosure.
Of course, MLK Day cannot expect to be immune from the inane, monetizing, unjust powers that be — just like every other holiday (formerly holy day). You can expect way more people to get excited about businesses selling discounted merchandise of MLK Day, or most any other holiday, than righteous and indignant people overturning the moneychangers’ stranglehold of debt on working people or their insistence to monetize every ideal or spiritual venture. Every celebration is met with a tsunami of merchandising. Buy your sweetie something expensive, commensurate with your love — which can’t be bought, but may be sold. Celebrate dead presidents by spending dead presidents. Buy some munitions for Independence Day. Honor veterans by living out the consumers’ creed: Live, Work, Buy, Die. Thanksgiving has been overrun by the commercialization of Christmas. Perhaps this is not surprising, since the Christmas season now reaches before Halloween. Martin Luther King, Jr., quite aptly, is in good company with Jesus. Yet the eternal question remains: Is MLK Day just a day off?
This poem is in tribute to today’s initial public offering of Twitter:
Twittering Away – Owed to IPO’d
Is there a longing beyond The public stocks IPO’d Buy and buy The Alpha and Beta of existence Reduced to 140 characters or less Hovering around tiny luminaries Passing flesh and mortar like gas A lusty err to some backwards throne The writing on the wall Its singular accomplishment Bringing the end nearer the beginning Posing as prose Vainly bard To the twitter’s fear Like the teeniest scandal In the wind Exercising their ABBs As won voidable six-pack Dreams taken by whizzes Raining in banality Hailing nitwits Flailing to put sole Too their brevity A game of hash tag With a phony high Never getting off What’s beneath them Trumped up charges Powering a virtual reality Their fullish ways Dealing only In fractions Courting daft years As married to miss demeanors A puerile of grate value Not just For characters shy Of simply being gross Twittering away Your life In the palm of your hand Exposing your briefs to the world The embarrassing lengths Willing to disclose In heiring your dirty laundry To the whirled
This poem is a tribute to a technology infrastructure that serves as a superhighway to the inane. Of course, I’m slamming it ode school! I’m surfing the vapids, because this insipid superhighway is littered with abbreviated lives, and perhaps the farthest thing possible from the novel! Twitter is appropriately named. Humanity flits about distracted by all but the punyest ventures. Here is to trading up from private capital to the capitol of privates! So beat it! Unsuccessfully littering, your company papers and your loan company are strewn with thousands of public heirs. Congratulations, you’ve graduated from matriculating in class, to a mere one hand out from a classless society. In the face of such inaneness, I must admit: IPO’d. Still, I for won, am not buying it.
NOTE: there is a very obscure pun in this poem. ABB is the stock symbol for a robotics company. I think that they build them with 100% irony — you can rust assured.
On occasions I find it easy To believe In sarin gas And dippity doo Rather than serendipity These are not special occasions
While many of my poems have an edge to them, my body of work is decidedly hopeful. This poem reflects on the way too easy response in life to be inane or even cruel. It seems that the “reptilian” deep part of our brain that responds to immediate threats with “fight of flight” is a default mechanism that is triggered, and acted upon, unless higher functions override it. When confronted with violence or injustice, a first response is often to strike back (fight) or avoid conflict (flight). In an unreflective reflex to large, institutional violence or injustice, the “sarin gas” option feels good, to strike back and hurt when hurt. Fortunately, such actions are rarely converted to action! More commonly, conflict avoidance is practiced by burying ourselves in simple denial or inane distraction — thus, the dippity doo (for those who may not get the reference, dippity doo is a hair gel). Each of these fight or flight responses is contrasted with “serendipity,” a playful alliteration, and a lucky or pleasant surprise. This is a call to live in a place that is more luminous, patient, and generous — to live in the presence of a higher power that is beneficent and life-giving. This may seem namby-pamby or a cop-out to some, but it is actually a place of being from which right action emanates. With gratitude rather than anger and hurt, we can de-link our actions from simple fight or flight responses and transcend to a higher level of action. Of course, allowing time for reflective mental processing is essential for finding a third way, out of “reptilian” action-reaction. When the instantaneously “easy” way is taken, and the “reptilian” brain runs our lives, “These are not special occasions.”
To learn, adapt, and grow, we need to be open to that which is new. Humans have a special gift of conscious awareness and will or intent to aim and frame our experiences with a chosen attitude. More simply put: expect to be pleasantly surprised. Certainly, we are animals. But more importantly, we are so much more than animals!
I’d like a government that listens More than listens in And NO, I don’t want fries with that!
We need to truly listen to one another, in order to create together a democracy that represents us. Democracy is an open dialogue, not one-sided surveillance. Listening is not the same as listening in! State secrecy always poses a threat to true democracy. Secret state surveillance on its own citizens always poses a threat of privacy violations and abuse of power. State secrecy threatens the ability of we the people to hold our government accountable. In fact, state secrecy puts the power of government in somebody else’s hands — and who that is exactly is well…a secret!
The last line of the poem is a stab at the automatic rhetoric that is often employed by government and corporations in a reactionary manner to any request — always trying to up-sell you to some predetermined agenda. In the politics of state secrecy and spying, terms like “terrorism” and “way of life” are bandied about. In the politics of our everyday economy, the truth on the ground is “would you like fries with that?” When our government listens to us, it will actually answer our questions, not just spit back inane questions. May we continue to work to assure that this becomes a fuller reality each day.
The defense department denies killing civilians The state department denies human rights abuses by trade partners The department of energy denies that nuclear power is anything but safe The criminal justice system denies institutional racism The department of departments denies that it exists There is no news here An anonymous spokesman representing an undisclosed list of clients Could neither confirm nor deny their uselessness Beholden to flights of fancy Carry on Pink elephants trampling conspiracy theorists Straw men unable to eat crow Permitting no one to fly straight Barring exceptional pork The fun is over A barrel Of monkeys denying evolution Where GOP is a measle-y typo Read “take things literally” A premeditated shot in the dark Where there is no higher power Emanating from the chamber of commerce Pinko pachyderms never herd from Any rarer would be bloody Hell, the stakes are high Raised by vampires Unable to reflect on their own Fratricide from dawn to dust Sucking out the life Granting only that They feel our payin’ Attention Exacting compensation for every notice Dispatching captives with unmanned missives Droning on In their priest-like duties Until the masses are free Like a cancer An endless growth Of pulp fiction And mind-numbing doublespeak As we press release From labor camps Yet another Birth of a nation And its following deportments: REDACTED Censors monitoring your every move So your posterity is theirs And the war on terror Only coming to an end When know more Freedom to deny
The gods are at war A blood sport for many The spectators are plenty Seeded at the rite and Overlooking the arena As bleachers whitewash The stain power of the players Announcers pooring over each play Drunk with ail And inuries listless Over actors breaking a leg Pundits pining sicks feat A box that no won can think out of Merely the latest stat Wherever you melee With the gods at war Who is it that dares to worship With flesh and bone Opening themselves up On to marrow A gaping dawn For mirror mortals Wear all we have Or have not Is in vein A standing oblation Know truer thou art Sow secure The peril of great price Who will sell awe? And who will buy it? When will we come together Means And ends Omen of good cheer Root for all!
A crowd gathers A performer spins A dozen plates on poles Like angels dancing on pinheads How many are possible?! Worthy of a few coins Fore a collection of small bills [Unmarked except by bankers] Gathered wear One’s head might normally be South versus North An animal magnetism Whose gravity is unequaled And might be considered Un-slavery to sum A spectacle to most Providing little food for belly Or thought Still Within arms reach Yet outside rapt attention Against the wall Even rarer A woman’s plate Holding earthly delights From seasons passed A cache returned From soil and toil Yielding A patience Unseen by any human hospitality As sun and seed conspire As clearly as mud Untrampled from above Clan destined To over-look From whither Rations aplenty And from the gaunt let Turn their eyes And just Beyond the pale I specked Return dimly To one’s own moat For a fort night Never leaving port or ail A thousands channels to sea What can’t be seen everyday Every day Never the less The woman sews Yet another see’d Acquainted with empty plates And those by which continents are divided She undertakes the tectonic shift In udder silence As the upper crust Takes Up The mantle Picturing itself free Ingeniously framed Buy empty plates With dancing tales
I have long been fascinated by the often sharp and surreal contrasts between the inane and the meaningful. In post-modern times, it seems that inane distractions are reaching all-time highs on a daily basis. Still, the generous forces of nature and creativity counter such head-bobbing and rubber-necking with constant access to simple and awesome pleasures to participate in as co-creators. In this poem, growing and eating one’s own food is that tectonic shift that will change the world, though perhaps at an imperceptibly slow pace to all but those with the largest perspectives. I am grateful that it is more than possible to surf such tectonic shifts and still be well grounded!
Also, in case you missed it, I choose a woman to represent those connected with the forces of creation. Women do most of the work in the world, including most of the underpaid and unpaid work in the world. We all owe a debt to them. THANK YOU!
This is the script for the street theater production that was performed tonight to kick off Occupy Toledo‘s May Day Fest week’s worth of events:
May Day Eve Celebration
Occupy Toledo
April 30, 2012
“The Corporate Zombies vs. The Village People”
Gather around, friends, and hear a story as old as humankind; or rather, hear a story as old as human unkind. The story is of the many versus the few. The players names may change, but the plot is the same. The few have grabbed power for themselves, while the many suffer. Sometimes it is the peasants versus the Lords of the land. Other times it is simply the 99% versus the 1%.
In today’s scene, in this land called the United States of America, once again, the land is divided, and power is not shared equally. The few, the 1%, have shielded themselves from accountability, by hiding behind non-living corporate entities, a phantom called “corporate personhood.” The few, the 1%, have become corporate zombies themselves, disconnected from humanity, unable to act justly and with compassion. In this pathetic state, the corporate zombies have managed to distract, divide, and simply overrun the will of the people. The corporate zombies have even managed to infect many of the people into believing that rampant injustice, economic slavery, and environmental destruction is the best that we can do. The corporate zombies have convinced many that corporate rule is too big to fail. The corporate zombies have convinced many that we the people are too small to make a difference.
The corporate zombies mock economic fairness.
The corporate zombies mock democracy.
The corporate zombies mock equal justice.
The corporate zombies mock environmental stewardship.
The corporate zombies mock human rights of all kinds.
The corporate zombies mock accountability, responsibility for their own actions.
But, alas, there is always a plot twist. Every time that the few, the 1%, grab power for themselves and bring suffering to the many, people arise to expose the absurdities of rampant injustice, to throw off the chains of economic slavery, and reclaim the earth as the home of all, not a place to be raped for the wealth of a few. In today’s scene, a group of villagers arise (that would be us). This group of villagers can see past the propaganda of the few, and boldly declare, “The Emperor has no clothes!”
The corporate zombies may mock economic fairness; they may mock democracy; they may mock equal justice; they may mock environmental stewardship; they may mock human rights of all kinds; they may mock accountability. BUT, the people of this village, Toledo, Ohio; the people of this village, the United States of America; the people of this village, planet Earth, will arise and declare, at first softly, but then, louder and louder:
We will, we will mock you. Mock you.
We will, we will mock you.
We will, we will mock you!
Let the games begin!
But first, a message from our un-corporate sponsors:
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from Corporatitis, an inflammation of corporate power in your life? Do you, or someone you know, suffer from low wages, poor working conditions, and crappy benefits? If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from lack of health insurance, access to needed health care, and an over-exposure to for-profit health care? If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from trillion dollar corporate bailouts, costing trillions of dollars, destroying the economy and mortgaging your future? If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from greedy money changers, taking kick-backs on every economic transaction you make, and then reducing your life to a credit score? If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from greed-induced environmental destruction, having to live with poisoned air, water, land, homes and bodies? If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from dependency on energy and utility companies who are the most profitable companies in human history, yet cry poverty when asked to invest in alternative and renewable energy sources? If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from greed-induced wars destroying countless lives around the globe? If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from an industrial agricultural food system that produces less and less nutritious foods, while destroying local farmers and our environment? If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from a political system where so-called democracy is bought and sold to the highest bidder, and you are left with false choices, where true change is not an option. If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Do you, or someone you know, suffer from a small cabal of media conglomerates who spoon-feed you crap, hoping to convince you, or at least scare you, that you can’t afford justice, economic fairness, or a livable planet, so you had better just get yours while you can? If so, you may have Corporatitis.
Corporatitis, an inflammation of corporate power, affects tens of millions of people, and it can be debilitating. However, most people suffer from Corporatitis Minor. While Corporatitis Minor is a serious condition, and should never be left untreated, Corporatitis Minor is much more treatable than the dreaded Corporatitis Major. Corporatitis in its worst form, Corporatitis Major, can consume one’s very soul, leaving only a shell of a human being, unable to accept accountability for one’s actions, or to demonstrate compassion to others. These ghoulish creatures become known by many titles, sometimes “CEO”, “Public Relations Manager”, or “Security Trader.”
These ghoulish creatures are doomed to walk the earth in a non-living state, like zombies, walking the earth, mindlessly and heartlessly feeding on the flesh of the living, in their vain attempts to satisfy their endless need for more and more profits. Entombed within the phantom of “corporate personhood”, their only hope is to be stripped of the mythical powers that imprison them, which are typically represented by “Logos.” We the people will strip these corporate “logos,” these “marks of the beast,” from these corporate zombies. By stripping these corporate logos, we will help free those suffering from Corporatitis Minor, and offer some hope, some possibility, that those suffering from Corporatitis Major can return to the land of the living, and reclaim their place in humanity.
To all those suffering from Corporatitis, there is something we can do about it. First, we start with a week of daily occupy movements, to purge ourselves of these corporate parasites and phantom persons. Occupy Toledo’s May Day Fest is just such a remedy. Though, be warned: treatment for Corporatitis may result in an increase in economic fairness, blossoming democracy, a return to equal justice, a reclamation of environmental health, burgeoning human rights, and a natural inclination to take responsibility for one’s own actions.
Do not be afraid, surround these corporate zombies with the power of the people. Without their corporate bank accounts; without their league of lawyers and lobbyists; without their private security and control over the security state, they are really quite helpless — even pathetic.
Feel free to run circles around them if you like!
And what do we say in response to the Corporate Zombies mocking justice and democracy for real persons:
We will, we will mock you. Mock you.
We will, we will mock you.
So, let us begin by stripping these corporate zombies of their corporate logos.
Let us line up and take turns, one by one, take a logo, strip it from the corporate zombie, and place the logo in the dustbin of history.
First up, we have The Banking and Finance Industry, aka, “The Money Changers”
The Money Changers mock economic fairness.
The Money Changers insist on reaping huge profits on financial transactions while producing little of real value.
The Money Changers have created a casino economy where they are the house that doesn’t lose, taking their cut whether their gambles with other people’s money wins or loses.
The Money Changers drain off hundreds of billions of tax dollars as a reward for crashing our economy and creating the largest recession since the Great Depression.
The Money Changers then have the nerve to try to reduce the meaning of human life down to a credit score.
And what do we say in response to the Money Changers mocking economic fairness:
We will, we will mock you, mock you.
We will, we will mock you.
Strip a logo, read the corporate name, place it in the dustbin of history, and declare:
We the people will take back our economy.
Next up, we have the Military-Industrial Complex, aka “The War Profiteers”
The War Profiteers represent one of the most profitable businesses on Earth.
The War Profiteers literally make a killing, and people are dying for their business.
In our most recent wars, tens of thousands of Americans have been killed and maimed; and over one million Iraqis and Afghanis have been killed.
This corporate zombie feeds off the flesh of the dead.
The War Profiteers mock the value of human life.
And what do we say in response to The War Profiteers mocking the value of human life:
We will, we will mock you.
We will, we will mock you.
Strip a logo, read the corporate name, place it in the dustbin of history, and declare:
We will inspire human life, not kill it.
Next up, we have the Energy Industry Profiteers, a.k.a., The Billionaire Polluters
The Billionaire Polluters are addicted to petroleum, coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy sources which cannot be sustained, and are destroying the planet.
The Billionaire Polluters resist alternative and renewable energy sources, willing to sell their Mother Earth for a buck.
And what do we say in response to The Billionaire Polluters who mock Mother Earth:
We will, we will mock you.
We will, we will mock you.
Strip a logo, read the corporate name, place it in the dustbin of history, and declare:
You may have the energy, but we have the power!
Next up, we have the Media and Communications Moguls, aka “The Propaganda Profiteers”
The Propaganda Profiteers dominate the news industry, silencing diverse voices, and silencing dissent.
The Propaganda Profiteers sellout democracy by pandering to unlimited corporate campaign contributions.
The Propaganda Profiteers dominate our entertainment industry, distracting us with inane entertainment, and cramming advertisements down our throats any time and any place they can, gladly taking the hugely profitable role of shill for consumerism.
The Propaganda Profiteers sell a cheap imitation of the truth while justice is denied.
And what do we say in response to The Propaganda Profiteers mocking truth and justice:
We will, we will mock you.
We will, we will mock you.
Strip a logo, read the corporate name, place it in the dustbin of history, and declare:
We the people are the medium for change.
Next up, we have the Industrial Food Profiteers
The Industrial Food Profiteers are much more interested in producing food products that can be genetically modified, recombined, packaged, and marketed for maximum profit than they are interested in nourishing humankind.
The Industrial Food Profiteers destroy the livelihoods of small, local, and family-owned farms.
The Industrial Food Profiteers erode topsoil like crack from a crack pipe, and pollute our environment and food with toxins.
And what do we say in response to the Industrial Food Profiteers for making a mockery of one of the most basic human needs — the need for nutritious food:
We will, we will mock you.
We will, we will mock you.
Strip a logo, read the corporate name, place it in the dustbin of history, and declare:
We will nourish a food system that nourishes people.
Next up, we have The Health Care Profiteers
The Health Care Profiteers purport to run a health-care system. However, we know that this so-called health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system.
Each year The Health Care Profiteers kill over 20,000 Americans each year because of the lack of health insurance.
This Corporate Zombie literally feeds on the sick and injured, the most vulnerable in society.
The Health Care Profiteers mock health care as a human right, denying sick and injured people help that they need, all in the name of profit.
And what do we say in response to The Health Care Profiteers mocking health care as a human right:
We will, we will mock you.
We will, we will mock you.
Strip a logo, read the corporate name, place it in the dustbin of history, and declare:
We the people demand universal health care now.
Last but not least, we have a potpourri of purveyors of personhood of corporations over human personhood — enough corporate misrule to piss off real persons of most any variety. This is a cabal of Sweat Shop Operators, Environment Destroyers, Labor Rights abusers.
These corporate mis-rulers mock labor rights.
These corporate mis-rulers mock making a decent, honest living.
These corporate mis-rulers mock environmental responsibility.
These corporate mis-rulers mock human values, in order to make a buck.
And what do we say in response to these Corporate Mis-Rulers mocking laborers and mocking the planet in which we all must all live:
We will, we will mock you.
We will, we will mock you.
Strip a logo, read the corporate name, place it in the dustbin of history, and declare:
We the people will end corporate mis-rule.
Now that we have stripped these corporate zombies of their “logos” and placed them in the dustbin of history, we offer these logos up as symbols of the oppression of the people.
[Take DUSTBIN OF HISTORY and place in front of wall (with flame symbols)]
During May Day Fest Week, we will add to this wall symbols representing oppression and barriers to justice and democracy.
[Phoenix egg piñata arises from behind wall.]
We the people, though beaten down, will rise from the ashes, like a phoenix.
We the people will rise above the forces of oppression and the barriers to justice and democracy.
We the people, will end corporate mis-rule!
Let us break open the Phoenix egg piñata to launch Occupy Toledo’s May Day Fest, as we join millions of people around the world in celebrating where true value comes from in our economy, that is, from the honest labors of real people, not from corporate shenanigans, accounting tricks, money changing, or raping Mother Earth. Let the people rule! Let May Day Fest begin!
[The Village People take turns hitting piñata until it breaks open, spilling goodies for all]
CEO Jesus really rises to the occasion this week of Easter! What could be tougher than answering the difficult and often inane questions put forth at a press conference? In his first go around, Jesus’ public relations department really had a big gaffe by sending two women to witness the resurrection. In Jesus’ day, women were not considered reliable or viable witnesses. What was he thinking? Of course, the modern-day CEO Jesus understands the complexities of oppression in Western civilization. These days, proper paperwork and avoiding getting bogged down in innuendo are the armor and shield of modern management. There’s no question that many modern folks doubt the actual physical resurrection of Jesus. For me, that’s less the point than addressing truth in an upfront and Jesus like manner — actually living a life that witnesses to the profound truth that life is stronger than death. In these modern times, with all of our science and technological sophistication, obfuscation of the truth is as old school as ever! This week’s parody is on the birthers. Who needs facts when simple doubt will do? Why accept evidence when such realities don’t suit one’s biases and bigotries? When Jesus appeared before Pilate, Pilate mocked the irrelevancy of truth, with his classic rhetorical question, “What is truth?” In the end, Pilate just tested the political winds and gave the mob what they wanted. Some things never change.
Interestingly, modern day evangelical Christians seem more interested in proper documentation through theological litmus tests and dogmas of belief in whether one should receive the proper credentials of being “born again” than the incarnate power of Jesus boldly witnessing to the reality that life is stronger than death, and good is stronger than evil. Rather than exchanging résumés of belief, I would suggest that they will know we are Christians by our love, not our doctrine. Unfortunately, for human control freaks, the way of love is way too wild and free. By reducing deep spiritual truths to belief and dogmas, institutional religion is born, again, and competition for brand control become the preeminent reality. Jesus rocks, quite literally on Easter, but I find that Christianity often gets in the way of following Jesus. Wherever you are entombed in your life, come out! Hmm…is that Jesus calling?
Who wants to be a millionaire?
Is that your final question?
I like this poem because it deals with the theme of money and the theme of questions. Perhaps needless to say, I have issues with money. And as far as questions go, I come from the camp that says you must choose between God and money. I love parodying popular culture, which seems like most the time to be quite inane. The word “surreal” has become an ever popular part of my lexicon. Probably because the gap between seeking God and seeking money has grown starker, or least my awareness of that has. It seems hard to get more crass than “Who wants to be a millionaire?” Nevertheless, our popular culture seems quite successful at reaching ever new heights of crassness. Of course, the parody of the final line, “Is that your final answer?” is actually a conceptual pun in the sense that rather than coming to some final closure that our scientific reductionist culture values so highly, it turns this value on its head, and perhaps heart, by answering the question with a question, which seems to resemble life much more closely than the vain desire to wrap things up in a nice little bow of security, that is, being a millionaire. Of course, the obvious answer to the question, “Who wants to be a millionaire?” seems to be “Me, duh!” And indeed that may be the answer for most, I merely submit the question, “Is that your final answer?” Any questions?
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