Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
I Listen As Two Students
I listen as two students
walk past me on the path
as they make their way
to a test in political science.
One of them has his notebook
open. He says, "Realism opposes
interdependence because
it makes you vulnerable."
His friend, a woman, says,
"Dude, life makes you vulnerable."
He laughs and replies, "I'm
talking about the theory."
Hans Ostrom, 2012
walk past me on the path
as they make their way
to a test in political science.
One of them has his notebook
open. He says, "Realism opposes
interdependence because
it makes you vulnerable."
His friend, a woman, says,
"Dude, life makes you vulnerable."
He laughs and replies, "I'm
talking about the theory."
Hans Ostrom, 2012
The Cow, the Dish, the Spoon: An Update
After the cow jumped over
the moon, she landed of course
on Earth but in a far, exotic
pasture where a well groomed
bull with a gold ring in his nose
knew a thing or two
about lunacy himself.
As to the the dish and the spoon:
having run away together,
they were happy for a while
in someone's unmatched set
of dishes. The dish subsequently
chipped, then cracked, and
was finally thrown away.
The spoon mourned, becoming
tarnished and a little bent.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
the moon, she landed of course
on Earth but in a far, exotic
pasture where a well groomed
bull with a gold ring in his nose
knew a thing or two
about lunacy himself.
As to the the dish and the spoon:
having run away together,
they were happy for a while
in someone's unmatched set
of dishes. The dish subsequently
chipped, then cracked, and
was finally thrown away.
The spoon mourned, becoming
tarnished and a little bent.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Poets and Their Readers
Some poets don't think
they owe supposed readers anything.
Some poets think they owe them
a lot. Some poets think they don't
have readers, so they may think,
"What's the difference?"
And some poets think readers
have it coming, "it" being a kind
of punishment or lesson: a riddle,
a bricolage of confused allusions,
an insult, a dismissal, or some other
gesture of superiority. Me,
I think I owe readers something,
maybe a lot. But I'm rarely
fully certain what I owe, and
I don't know most of my readers
but am fully certain there aren't
that many. I don' know
what Emily Dickinson thought
she owed ostensible readers
or who she imagined them
to be. Maybe she assumed
people who like birds, the play
of words, whimsical comparisons,
and reticent irreverence might
enjoy what she wrote. I'm fully
certain she wrote, "publication
is the auction of the mind,"
a statement that does and doesn't
seem to concern readers. Also,
I'm fully certain that I've written
"fully certain" too many times here
and that if Dickinson's poetry were
a store and readers customers,
I'd think it was as well stocked
as anyone's store. --Nothing
against other stores, of course.
--Hans Ostrom, 2012
they owe supposed readers anything.
Some poets think they owe them
a lot. Some poets think they don't
have readers, so they may think,
"What's the difference?"
And some poets think readers
have it coming, "it" being a kind
of punishment or lesson: a riddle,
a bricolage of confused allusions,
an insult, a dismissal, or some other
gesture of superiority. Me,
I think I owe readers something,
maybe a lot. But I'm rarely
fully certain what I owe, and
I don't know most of my readers
but am fully certain there aren't
that many. I don' know
what Emily Dickinson thought
she owed ostensible readers
or who she imagined them
to be. Maybe she assumed
people who like birds, the play
of words, whimsical comparisons,
and reticent irreverence might
enjoy what she wrote. I'm fully
certain she wrote, "publication
is the auction of the mind,"
a statement that does and doesn't
seem to concern readers. Also,
I'm fully certain that I've written
"fully certain" too many times here
and that if Dickinson's poetry were
a store and readers customers,
I'd think it was as well stocked
as anyone's store. --Nothing
against other stores, of course.
--Hans Ostrom, 2012
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Time Is Money, Which
Time is money, which is
speech, which is free,
except when it's policed,
or when it's bought
by corporations, which
are people, who are "human
resources," which brings
to mind property: a pile
of coal to be shoveled
into time, which is
a kind of abyss on wheels.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
speech, which is free,
except when it's policed,
or when it's bought
by corporations, which
are people, who are "human
resources," which brings
to mind property: a pile
of coal to be shoveled
into time, which is
a kind of abyss on wheels.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
the real artists
the real artists deliver
the newspapers that carry the lies.
they assemble mother-boards,
sports shoes, clothes, and purses.
the real art is the art
of re-assembling the world
every day.
the real artists go where
they're ordered to go when
they put on the uniform, whatever
uniform it is.
the real artists, they
change old people's diapers,
teach five-year-olds to read,
serve eggs to smirking
college students, empty
professors' trash cans,
sweep the floors
of art galleries, change
light-bulbs in auditoriums,
breast-feed, cook, clean,
get groceries, carry water,
look after grandchildren.
the real artists manage
crews, staff shifts, order
raw material, stack lumber,
run bureaus, process forms,
maintain websites, take
complaints, withstand
verbal abuse.
they mix cocktails, dance nude,
look for food in dumpsters,
rant from the caverns
of mental illness.
they protect children.
they haul freight.
they haul people.
they wash clothes.
they pick up bodies
lying on highways.
they wash corpses.
they mourn the dead,
help the maimed recover,
grieve with the bereaved.
the real artists know how
to add and subtract.
they walk or stand til
their legs and backs ache.
they show up on time and
kill vermin. they plant crops
and then wait, watching
the pale blue ceramic
sky of drought.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
the newspapers that carry the lies.
they assemble mother-boards,
sports shoes, clothes, and purses.
the real art is the art
of re-assembling the world
every day.
the real artists go where
they're ordered to go when
they put on the uniform, whatever
uniform it is.
the real artists, they
change old people's diapers,
teach five-year-olds to read,
serve eggs to smirking
college students, empty
professors' trash cans,
sweep the floors
of art galleries, change
light-bulbs in auditoriums,
breast-feed, cook, clean,
get groceries, carry water,
look after grandchildren.
the real artists manage
crews, staff shifts, order
raw material, stack lumber,
run bureaus, process forms,
maintain websites, take
complaints, withstand
verbal abuse.
they mix cocktails, dance nude,
look for food in dumpsters,
rant from the caverns
of mental illness.
they protect children.
they haul freight.
they haul people.
they wash clothes.
they pick up bodies
lying on highways.
they wash corpses.
they mourn the dead,
help the maimed recover,
grieve with the bereaved.
the real artists know how
to add and subtract.
they walk or stand til
their legs and backs ache.
they show up on time and
kill vermin. they plant crops
and then wait, watching
the pale blue ceramic
sky of drought.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
I Don't Keep a Diary
I don't keep a diary. My diary keeps me.
It writes, "The silly bastard did what
he always does today. What a bore.
I hate being his diary."
I tried to maintain my diary,
but my diary said, "Get your
fucking hands off me."
You know, that's fine with me.
I either did or didn't do
that thing, whatever it was,
on February 16th that year.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
It writes, "The silly bastard did what
he always does today. What a bore.
I hate being his diary."
I tried to maintain my diary,
but my diary said, "Get your
fucking hands off me."
You know, that's fine with me.
I either did or didn't do
that thing, whatever it was,
on February 16th that year.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
Poets and the Crow
The young poets and I sit
outside on grass under solemn fir trees.
Before we talk about another poem,
we discuss crows, which
are numerous around here.
A crow shows up.
We're talking about crows
as she's being one. That's
the way it is with these birds.
She finds something edible
in grass. She pincers it with
the beak. Drops it. Now uses
head and beak to hammer it.
She eats the pieces, swallowing
them whole, mouth lifted
in a V. I refuse to allude
to Ted Hughes or Poe
or to say anything about poetry
because the students
are looking at the crow.
The crow is being a crow!
The crow is being a crow.
I still don't know what she ate.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
outside on grass under solemn fir trees.
Before we talk about another poem,
we discuss crows, which
are numerous around here.
A crow shows up.
We're talking about crows
as she's being one. That's
the way it is with these birds.
She finds something edible
in grass. She pincers it with
the beak. Drops it. Now uses
head and beak to hammer it.
She eats the pieces, swallowing
them whole, mouth lifted
in a V. I refuse to allude
to Ted Hughes or Poe
or to say anything about poetry
because the students
are looking at the crow.
The crow is being a crow!
The crow is being a crow.
I still don't know what she ate.
Hans Ostrom, 2012
Asshole-ishness: Overheard
He: I'm sick of their asshole-ishness.
She: Me, too. But Leona's different than Karl.
He: Yeah, Leona has a reason to be an asshole,
but Karl--he's just an asshole.
She: That's right.
She: Me, too. But Leona's different than Karl.
He: Yeah, Leona has a reason to be an asshole,
but Karl--he's just an asshole.
She: That's right.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
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