Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Adam and Jack, Jill and Eve
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Jack and Jill in Eden
Jack and Jill
went up the hill
and ended up
in Eden.
Jack looked 'round.
And so did Jill.
A few stray goats
were feeding.
Jack looked at Jill.
There she stood.
Jack said to Jill,
"You're looking good."
Copyright 2011 Hans Ostrom
{
{
{
Jack and Jill in Eden
Jack and Jill
went up the hill
and ended up
in Eden.
Jack looked 'round.
And so did Jill.
A few stray goats
were feeding.
Jack looked at Jill.
There she stood.
Jack said to Jill,
"You're looking good."
Copyright 2011 Hans Ostrom
Poets and Society
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/
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Poets and Society
Society doesn't owe the poet
anything. Even if it did,
what leverage does the poet
have to collect what's due?
Do poets owe society
anything? If they want
something from or for
society, then they owe
society poetry that
satisfies something in
parts of that mass. Other-
wise, poets are free. Free
to be sojourners of the
interior, dedicated to
introspection; and to inspection
of the exterior--if they
so choose. Society will
support a relatively few
poets (chosen from a list)
at a time--a mere gesture.
The rest are on their own.
(How wonderful to be on
one's own.) They follow
their own way, which may
(but may not) feature
a sense of
duty to others. Poets owe
themselves poetry.
Hans Ostrom Copyright 2011
/
/
/
Poets and Society
Society doesn't owe the poet
anything. Even if it did,
what leverage does the poet
have to collect what's due?
Do poets owe society
anything? If they want
something from or for
society, then they owe
society poetry that
satisfies something in
parts of that mass. Other-
wise, poets are free. Free
to be sojourners of the
interior, dedicated to
introspection; and to inspection
of the exterior--if they
so choose. Society will
support a relatively few
poets (chosen from a list)
at a time--a mere gesture.
The rest are on their own.
(How wonderful to be on
one's own.) They follow
their own way, which may
(but may not) feature
a sense of
duty to others. Poets owe
themselves poetry.
Hans Ostrom Copyright 2011
Crows, Contented
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>
<
^
Crows, Contented
Each time crows
gather I
get glad. They
focus.
They are black.
Their
feathers shine. They
look forward.
Have brows.
Are big
and awkward and
deft and smart.
They
glide well.
They
are not satisfied.
I do sense,
though,
that crows
are
contented
with their
determined
irascibility, their
conflicts
with each other and
the world. And
such nests they build.
Hans Ostrom 2011 Copyright
>
<
^
Crows, Contented
Each time crows
gather I
get glad. They
focus.
They are black.
Their
feathers shine. They
look forward.
Have brows.
Are big
and awkward and
deft and smart.
They
glide well.
They
are not satisfied.
I do sense,
though,
that crows
are
contented
with their
determined
irascibility, their
conflicts
with each other and
the world. And
such nests they build.
Hans Ostrom 2011 Copyright
Sunday, February 13, 2011
A Spinoza/Rubber Bands Re-Post
So someone in the Netherlands re-posted something from this blog--a brief homage to my favorite philosopher, Spinoza, followed by a poem I'd written about rubber bands and in which I mentioned Baruch--or Benedict.
A Spinoza/Rubber Bands re-positng doesn't happen every day. Well, at least not to me. Yes, yes, I know there are more pressing matters out there, but still: Spinoza, rubber bands, re-posting.
And thanks to those folks in the Netherlands.
A Spinoza/Rubber Bands re-positng doesn't happen every day. Well, at least not to me. Yes, yes, I know there are more pressing matters out there, but still: Spinoza, rubber bands, re-posting.
And thanks to those folks in the Netherlands.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Tired of Talking About Race? Really?
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Tired
Some white folks sometimes say,
"I'm tired of talking about race."
I'd get tired of hearing them say
that and other things about race--
except then I say to myself, Tired?
Really? Try 300 years of slavery,
then getting emancipated into
the terrors of Jim Crow and the
Klan, then 60 more years, and
counting, of endless bullshit.
I've not yet met a Black man
in the U.S. who hasn't been
stopped by the police only
because he's Black. Some
white folks need to warp
who their president is so
desperately, they'll believe
anything--or say anything
to to those who will believe
anything. This isn't about
politics. It's about something
much deeper and even more
awful than politics. Speaking
of which, I know
this smart man in the South who
knows his politics, I mean
real politics, knows it cold. He's
white. Twice he's told me,
"If it weren't for race, there'd
be no Republican Party in the South."
So,when I think I might be
tired of what some white
folks say when they use
"tired" as an excuse not
to engage, I think, Really?
Tired? You're tired? Well,
what do you know?
]
]
]
Tired
Some white folks sometimes say,
"I'm tired of talking about race."
I'd get tired of hearing them say
that and other things about race--
except then I say to myself, Tired?
Really? Try 300 years of slavery,
then getting emancipated into
the terrors of Jim Crow and the
Klan, then 60 more years, and
counting, of endless bullshit.
I've not yet met a Black man
in the U.S. who hasn't been
stopped by the police only
because he's Black. Some
white folks need to warp
who their president is so
desperately, they'll believe
anything--or say anything
to to those who will believe
anything. This isn't about
politics. It's about something
much deeper and even more
awful than politics. Speaking
of which, I know
this smart man in the South who
knows his politics, I mean
real politics, knows it cold. He's
white. Twice he's told me,
"If it weren't for race, there'd
be no Republican Party in the South."
So,when I think I might be
tired of what some white
folks say when they use
"tired" as an excuse not
to engage, I think, Really?
Tired? You're tired? Well,
what do you know?
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