Christopher,
I was quite taken with your segue from Keats' "false
coinage" to anti-war poetry. As I recall, people did
indeed _listen_ to it (however execrable it sometimes
was) at rallies and protests, but whether Strand is
right to say that they _read_ it, I'm not so sure.
That and your Country Joe sig reminded me of how, at
the beginning of the Iraq war, it was pop musicians
like Patti Smith and Michael Stipe who put out a call
for songs against the war, and _they_ were _listened_
to as well. Some, like R.E.M.'s "Final Straw," even
became hits. (War as good careerism, like famine used
to be?) And, of course, it wasn't necessary to _read_
the lyrics of those protest songs.
I wonder how many folks will read (as opposed to
merely buying) Tom Brokaw's _Boom: Voices of the
Sixties_, his story of 1968 in the US as told through
interviews with everyone from Mark Rudd to Karl Rove
(if you can imagine).
Candice
as I raise my head to broadcast my objection
as your latest triumph draws the final straw
who died and lifted you up to perfection?
and what silenced me is written into law
(R.E.M.)
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