I AM ON DIGEST SO FORGIVE THE DELAYED RESPONSES
dougolly wrote
>
>The Buffalo listees, at least, like talking to each other as fellow writers,
>without fearing they're going to become engaged in uncomfortable politics.
which prompts me (as a fellow writer) to send fearfully an uncomfortable
file I had written but not had the courage to send (playfully) in
(irresponsible) response to Doug's previous post (with various new
additions):
He wrote:
>>Wars are caused by mistakes
Whoops! there we go, another mistake another war.
(Are we all really going in the right direction except for those pesky
mistakes we keep making?)
>>Global trading has
>>been a secret driver of these events.
Yeah, wars are not caused by mistakes but by market fluctuations,
banana-skins of power. Secret?
>>A citizen's best anti-war policy is to increase awareness of these
>>anticipatory mistakes within his/her own circles: it's part of normal
>>citizen-
>>responsibility to try to spread one's sense of good opinion around one's
>>circle. No doubt there are other, more immediate actions too -- writing to
>>government, demonstrations, etc.,
Try it this way round:
An anti-citizen's best policy is to war against the 'responsible citizen'
and take immediate action within his/her own circle to spread revolutionary
fervour. Demonstrations are a beginning. Writing to governments, on the
other hand, gives _us_ the sense that they _care_ about our opinions and
gives them the sense that they are 'good' (listeners). No doubt there are
other, more, too, etc.
Don't give in to common sense.
>>Poets are not exempt from this (it's part, part only of course, of
>>their poetic task), and have a slight advantage over the average citizen in
>>that their opinions spread slightly more widely. Whether we are successful or
>>not (and almost certainly not), our responsibility won't go away.
What responsibility is that?
Who defines what the 'responsible' position is?
Is it the one 'all of us' _really_ 'know' is the 'right' one? A consensus
arrived at _apparently_ 'without influence' because it is 'natural'?
Are 'tasks' poetic? Who are these 'responsible' poets? (Give me the
irresponsible ones any time.)
>>So much of modern poetry's response to politics is to become preoccupied with
>>its own poetics, so that the openness of interpretation shall create a
>>certain
>>amount of awareness but no harm.
>>"poetry can't really deal with these issues"
Poetry can/does (always?) deal with these _issues_, but not necessarily in
a way that is recognisably essentialist, dogmatic, didactic. Nor,
necessarily, on the 'responsible' side of the question.
Poetry _is_ its own poetics.
Trust-in-interpretation is the harm.
Make Poetry not Dogma.
Make Revolution not War
Make Vaccines while the Sun still Shines.
The only Good War is Class War. Queer the barricades!
Common (come on!), lets have no more comfortable "new" politics, lets get
the spiky ones out of the closet.
Doug
I have been reading your excellent posts on this list for some time and
suddenly the sense of you being a 'responsible poet' stuck in my craw. My
sexuality (among other things) has never let me become comfortable with
responsible citizenship. (In the past, it was the 'responsible' thing to do
to 'expose' queers to 'the authorities'.)
Lawrence wrote
>I have argued against poetry being to do with The Truth, but it is to do
>with honesty; if we are poets then we could at least try to be honest with
>ourselves and each other.
which surprised me. Poetry is to do with Honesty!? What is The Honest and
what might its difference from The Truth be? Why demand either in relation
to the honourable Games of Language? R U telling me I mustn't lie if I am a
poet????? Poets are the Acknowledged Fabricators of Wordworlds.
But what are Critics?
Especially when they present blatant hatred (personal abuse) of the poet
and political disgust in lieu of analysis/discussion/response to the work.
I refer to no one in particular because, for some reason I can't fathom, no
one is willing to QUOTE an offending phrase from the offending article. I
had a quick look back at some previous Angel Exhausts on the net (cos FO
isn't netted). I didn't happen across any howlers - except the old 'yibble
yibble nana nunu' response to Cobbing (which strikes me as showing more
about the writer's abilities than Cobbings!). (No, don't remind me. I was
young and irresponsible.)
In response to Lawrence's post:
>I do also know that the majority on this list have said nothing and I
>suspect that _some_ of them at least have kept quiet because they lack the
>courage to speak up;
I really want to know what I might want to say. I hope I haven't just
missed the postings of the relevant sections (can someone backchannel if
so). Given my knowledge of both Bill and Lawrence, I fully expect to be in
support of their stance and, being quite happy to be irresponsible, I am
willing to declare full and unstinting support immediately without knowing
anything myself about the subject. I would however be even happier to know
what precisely I am supporting them against. But, beyond that, if I wanted
to say something, I would presumably also want to DO something and I have
seen nothing on the list yet that suggests anyone actually knows what they
want us to do about AD/DB/TF. Write a letter? Sue him/them? Send him/them
to Coventry? Iraq?
BTW
Is no one else going to question the phrase "that rogue Nicholas Johnson"?
How many people have benefitted from his Tours and Festivals and
Publications? (both in the receiving and the making).
Sure, he makes mistakes and has made some bad ones (upsetting a lot of
people)... but 'rogue' seems completely out of place for someone who is
doing so much distribution, publicity, promotion of the work of others and
writing/performing quite interestingly himself. (He is no longer a student
of mine so I can speak freely at last!)
However, if Doug is right, Nick's mistakes may cause another war. How
irresponsible!
(No, Doug, it's just a joke. Sorry. I know. You're right: it is
irresponsible to misuse your words this way.)
Meanwhile, Cliblaintron seem to have had fun spanking Saddy's bottom and
they are now returning to being responsible(!?) citizens. We wait to see
what happens next.....
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