A description of today’s America?

I’ve posted this before but wanted to do so again in light of recent events & this article:

It’s All Too Much, and We Still Have to Care: What’s going on at the border is horrifying, but we can’t go numb and turn away. – Dahlia Lithwick – Slate – June 14, 2018

Ilya Kaminsky–We Lived Happily During the War

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And when they bombed other people’s houses, we

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protested

but not enough, we opposed them but not

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enough. I was

in my bed, around my bed America

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was falling: invisible house by invisible house by invisible house.

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Read rest of poem 

Dailies 6/6/18

Nicholas Friedman – Distraction Display

Some birds, to fend
against predators,
will fake a battered
or broken wing

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Read rest of poem 

Sonia Greenfield  – Alternate Facts 

We never thought it could happen here—
the poisoned, the disappeared—

these tunnels a network of news channels—
server room, keyboards, screens aglow

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Read rest of poem 

 

Sam Witt- You Drowned, to an Underworld Hospital, to Your .357 Magnum Sinking Down Forever to the Harbor Bed

QUANTUM STATE OF THE CONFLICT DIAMOND
STILL THROWING FIRE FROM THE PAGES OF YOUR NOTEBOOKS ¹

 

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At the harbor, in the smallest hour of this
(Death stuff for sure), this softly tendered now, the Youngest Day,
this silvery clarion blast:	   I have no distance.
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Read rest of poem

~TRIBRACH Poetry Diary ~

A friend had to take his wife off life support last night….

If I remember the story of this poem correctly, it was written at a time when the poet was anticipating the loss of her husband, Donald Hall, from cancer. He recovered, but she herself died at the age of 47. Hall wrote several books of poetry and essays to try to help him memorialize her and survive her loss.

Jane Kenyon – Let Evening Come

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.
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Read rest of poem 

 

The Ezra Pound of Rap

Is Kanye West “the Ezra Pound of Rap”? – Jeet Heer – The New Republic – April 30, 2018

“This comparison might seem outrageous. Pound, the legendary American poet, stained his reputation by advocating for Benito Mussolini and broadcasting fascist messages on Italian radio during World War II. Trump, despite his authoritarian tendencies, is hardly Mussolini, nor are West’s tweets in the same category as Pound’s rants, which were laced with anti-Semitism.

“But it’s a useful comparison precisely because Pound’s actions were so extreme: The still–running debate surrounding him—about whether an artist’s political views should shape how an audience views their work—can help clarify the new debate surrounding West.”

This poem may explain why the slogan “Make America Great Again” was aimed at white people.

My friend Becky tagged me on this one, as she was wondering whether the sign creators “realize they have paraphrased Langston Hughes? Do you think they know who Langston Hughes is?”

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Later note: I originally titled this “GOP paraphrases Langston Hughes, probably by accident” but my friend Justin pointed out that the organization who did it is actually Mad Dog PAC, “which is definitely not GOP,”so I changed it.

But he adds “But that poem pretty much explains why “‘Make America Great Again’ as a slogan was aimed at white people.”

GOP Begins “Impeachment” Strategy To Energize Base – News and Guts – 4/8/18

Langston Hughes – Let America Be America Again

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)
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Read rest of poem 

“For all the fun with his buffoonery, Trump’s language still holds power”

 “…like his fellow wordsmith Shakespeare, Trump has produced a remarkable burst of something like poetry. There is Hart Seely’s Bard of the Deal, a 2015 book of poetry compiled from interviews, speeches, and tweets; at least two different collections called Make Poetry Great Again (one in Norwegian); and the forthcoming Bigly: Donald Trump in Verse by Cheers writer Rob Long. He has also inspired others to verse: A Hundred Limericks for a Hundred Days of Trump, Trumpetry, and the self-published Shit My President Says Poetry.

“The latest collection of Trumpian verse is The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump, by McSweeney’s writer Rob Sears. Consider:

I am the best¹

I predicted Apple’s stock would fall²

I will build a great, great wall³

I build buildings that are 94 stories tall⁴

My hands – are they small?⁵

He gets verse: the poetry of Donald Trump: The US president’s almost primal language is a source of widespread amusement and horror. But some have begun exploring its aesthetic power – Sian Cane – Guardian – 9/1/17

“Not only are #Resistance poets against this president, but clearly they are against good poetry, too.”

“Not only are #Resistance poets against this president, but clearly they are against good poetry, too. The empty theatricality of so much of this protest writing comes from the fact that these authors have confused emotional intensity with the craft of verse. They only talk to one another as well. The poems don’t impress anyone but those who share the indignant passions.

“Poets need to get out more. If they want to overcome the emotionalism, they will do something genuinely inventive: attend a pro-Trump rally, talk to the people there, and write about them as if they were decent human beings.”

Mark Bauerlein and Garrick Davis – Poets and politics: Poets against Trump seem to be against good poetry, too – Washington Times – January 10, 2018

Erasing Trump

The Trump-Era Boom in Erasure Poetry: How a poetic form gained new political purpose online in 2017. – Rachel Stone – The New Republic – October 23, 2017

“In these poems there is a desire to re-examine the institutions and narratives that shape Americans’ lives, from government bureaucracy to new media. The poems’ authors reassert power over language that has typically been used to determine who does and does not belong. And while poets have been reassigning meaning to texts in this way for at least a century, erasure has gained new energy at a moment when the country is deeply polarized—when official documents may hold radically different consequences and meanings for different people.”

Winners of the latest NY Times Trump Poetry Contest

Trump Is Inspirational … for Poetry –   Nicholas Kristof – New York Times – October 21, 2017

“My readers have the best words, as Donald Trump might say. Evidence for that comes from the caliber of the 2,750 poems submitted to my Trump poetry contest. With the help of the Poetry Society of America, I’ve picked my winners, and here they are, offering us a mix of humor, bite and hope.”

Hooray to Eminem, one of our “literary greats” (?)

Eminem Lashes Out at Trump With Freestyle Rap Video

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The full lyrics to Eminem’s Trump-bashing freestyle ‘The Storm’

Why am I posting this news on a poetry blog? See

Just how good is he? Never mind the misogyny and homophobia, Eminem is a brilliant poet. As the controversial rapper heads for Britain, Giles Foden explains why he belongs in the pantheon of literary greats – The Guardian – 2/5/01

 “…just how good are Eminem’s lyrics? Is all the fuss about him justified, or is it a case of hype over substance? In fact, a brief examination of Stan reveals it to have all the depth and texture of the greatest examples of English verse. To use the singer’s own language, it’s as ‘fat’ as Robert Browning – and it is with the Victorian master of sly irony that Eminem’s true ‘underground’ work is done”