[New-Poetry] 'Poetry can speak decisively to power'

[JforJames at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/7/2007 10:04:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time,  
bobgrumman at nut-n-but.net writes:

Andrew Motion: 'The sacred duty  of poets is to tell the truth about humanity 
whatever those in authority have  to say.' 

The sacred duty of authorities is to do right  by humanity no matter what 
poets say.  Bob Grumman

Sorry.  I  have trouble resisting the urge to counter pompous bilge with its 
positive  image.



--
The 'sacred' bit might be carrying things too far, but poets traditionally,  
being word-slingers, have seen the need if not a duty to be a vocal force  for 
change when they feel their government has gone badly awry. The word  'force' 
may be overstating the immediate effect of their language acts,  but if one 
believes in the cummulative force of small acts,  then the poems they write 
matter as much as letters to the editor or  handwritten placards carried in a 
march or a celebrity wearing a  peace-sign on his lapel at a photo op. 
As we have witnessed in recent years under Bush-Cheney doctrine, there are  
too many examples of the failure of "authorities to do right by humanity," for  
certain citizen-poets to stand silently by. 

Yesterday at our downtown library, Martin  Espada gave a talk on Neruda. He 
spoke about Neruda's politicalization during  1930s, his turning away from a 
poetry that was primarily concerned with beauty. Espada read from the poem 
"Explaining A Few  Things," which has that telling 'metaphor': "and the blood of 
children ran  through the streets / simply, like children's blood."
 
I wrote a while back on my blog, poetry that  cuts ifself off from its 
socio-political ties is in danger of becoming nothing  more than an intellectual 
luxury good.
Finnegan
_http://ursprache.blogspot.com/_ (http://ursprache.blogspot.com/) 



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