“I heard the news today…”*
Music of the day is
accompanied by the timpani of
jackboots hitting the pavement in the
heel-toe, heel-toe cadence ofbrown-shirts marching ever closer
Leaders reach into the magic
hat of history twisting the
rabbit into a pigeon while the
disc-jockey assistant lies, his
hate-filled patter a clear
counterpoint to the act on the stage
.
It takes a generation to
paint the kind of picture an
artist like Hitler prefers: to
mix perfect colors on the
palette of politics,
layer canvas with deft
invocation of race,
surround it with a gilded
economic frame, and
hang it in a gallery of fear, where
heroic Wagner is background to
cocktails and conversation of
Midas and his uniformed friends.
*With thanks and apology to The Beatles
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Hi Susan,
I think this is the poem for Big Tent Poetry — you might want to set your blog to post most recent posts on top, and you should probably send us a link to the exact poem you’d like us to read. (Click on your post title and copy and paste the long link up in your browser bar.)
And (sorry if this is too much stuff!!!) it would help this reader if your type size was larger.
I am a little old and find small type hard to read.
That said, I really like the tone & tempo of this poem, the use of Wagner to paint the awful picture. I think the Beatles would be happy.
Thank you Deb! You’re absolutely right: this is The poem for BTP.
I’ve been trying to get that poem moved to archives and have the current poem come out at the top, but can’t seem to get it to work. Have also been trying to get BTP listed in the blogroll, but I am too computer ignorant (or maybe it’s blog ignorant).
I will use larger type (I promise!), so that all of us can more easily read the poems.
I had the ideas for the stanzas percolating for about a week, then read the BTP prompt, had an “AHA” moment, and completely changed direction. I really had to work for the tempo, the tone was clear to me from the first. Thank you.
This was quite profound and it’s message could very well be transposed into today’s climate.
Apparently I was a little too obscure: I am afraid I believe this is today’s climate and was trying to indicate that. I am working on a final stanza which should make that more clear (I hope).
Thank you for you comment: the verification of a friend’s comment was needed.
Okay, wasn’t sure which poem to comment on, and had already stated my opinion on the one so many left remarks under. And btw, I still feel the same way now as I did then.
Okay, this piece. We have already discussed it, but I like the imagery, both the references to sight and sound which add a definitely deeper dimension to the whole: the jack boots and Wagner music for example. The lines are longer and flow more smoothly than what you have done in the past and I also like that, as well. This feels like meat, good and weighty, and it forces me to stop, think, and concentrate. Not a small achievement by any means. No buts, anymore. Thank you for this one,
Elizabeth
Everytime I look at this poem, the stanzas have changed: it’s like the type has a mind of it’s own! I am trying to learn how to get the current poem to appear at the top, but am a bit ignorant about how to go about it (plus the type thing). Thanks for finding your way to the correct poem for BTP.
Thanks for your comments, Elizabeth. I think a final stanza may have to be added, but haven’t been able to match the ‘weight’ yet.
A bit different, eh?