[New-Poetry] Thought for the day after the elections

[Suzanne Burns]

My own thoughts on this subject:

I really think that to say anything at all, to presume that one's thoughts
could possibly be important and worthy of being recorded, to address a
political issue and have an opinion AND/OR to assume the priviledge of
ignoring "politics" and claiming that they have no bearing on your life or
perspective...

Is. All. Inherently. Political.  I'm sorry if this seems like anything other
than an expansive perspective.  I'll try to explain why.

You see, I have this conversation a lot when the conversation turns to race
or class.  Typically it is individuals who enjoy the highest levels of
privilege who assume that such things really aren't important and not
relevant to their lives, their speech, or the way they go about their day.
That is after all the privilege of being a part of a dominant group-- you
get to brush off such dirty subjects and pretend that they have no bearing
on you.

You can write a poem about the ducks in your backyard and pretend that your
race/class has nothing whatever to do with the fact that you even have a
backyard.  Pretty, yes.  Enjoy it by all means.  I mean that.  But please
don't pretend that this is not a privilege.  And unless you really believe
that this privilege has some sort of natural basis (i.e., you believe it is
right and natural that you should have the option of ignoring race, class,
or the war in Iraq because you are white, American and male-- in which case
you and I are going to have words) please don't pretend that it is not
political.  Because it is.  You are there and it is there because of
politics.

Back to poetry.  I work like a dog at my coporate job which I am grateful to
have, and have to work rather hard to sculpt out that time I need for
writing and reading poetry.  We live in a cultural where the almighty dollar
has a lot of power (and if you are unaware of this, I am likely to conclude
that you probably have a awful lot of dollars-- which buys you the privilege
of not having to think about them) and making time for something which is
never going to produce more dollars is a consciously spiritual, political,
and subversive act.

Subversive?  Making time for this means unmaking time for something else
that the culture dictates is more important (money, family, civic duties).
So yes, subversive.  Even if I just write about those ducks, that act of
doing is political.  And while I am writing those ducks, I will probably be
conscious of how it is I came about to be sitting in this yard and looking
at such creatures instead of looking at a war zone-- because that is what I
am: someone who knows she isn't too far away from such things.  And if I am
not?  Sorry, willful ignorance, cocooning, putting up even necessary walls
is a political act and persepective.

I admit I have trouble lsitening to people who insist that there is nothing
political in what they do or say, because that very statement, to me,
reveals a kind of myopia.  Its a little bit like how I have trouble
listening to someone who is white, well-educated, able-bodied and from
Northern California complain about poor and disadvantaged they are because
they don't also have a nice house and a pair of Manolo Blahniks.  Its an
inherently skewed perspective and it shows a profound lack of awareness--
which I admit, and maybe this is my limitation, I cannot respect.

My two bits for the day,

Suzanne Burns

-- 
"Start with your identity, which is a combination of your assets and what
your friends mean when they discuss 'the trouble with you,' polish that, and
you have style."

--Quentin Crisp
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