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I echo Andrew, very wry & visual Fred. enjoyed it a lot. KS 2008/12/12 andrew burke <[log in to unmask]> > I'm knocked out by that poem, Fred. The concept, the execution, the voice, > the attitude. One a month until November, please. > > Andrew > > 2008/12/12 Frederick Pollack <[log in to unmask]> > > > December, 2008 > > > > > > The new house adjoining the park – > > with shingles, gables, verandahs, trim > > a rich cream, a feast > > of postmodernist set-pieces – flickers. > > Two gray weeks, unseasonably, > > if the term now means anything, cold > > or warm, must have heralded > > this strangeness, while leaves downslope > > held pointlessly on, then fell at once in no wind. > > At issue is whether that house would exist > > in a just society. The garage, no question, > > could house a dozen otherwise massacred > > people, provide powder-room access > > while they chopped the park, > > built fires in the driveway, > > cooked chipmunks and strays. One would like > > the construction of the house > > to be less flashy-cheap – damp sheetrock, > > warped boards – but if even the rich > > are sold such things, how shall justice be made > > of stone? The current residents > > communicate with an uncertain cosmos > > through lawyers who say their kids are decent, > > one's in law school, and the family > > has paid enough, enough, > > for the right to be left alone. > > > > So it flickers, the house, sometimes there, sometimes not, > > like the car in the driveway, like wealth > > or gas. When it isn't, man isn't, > > man never was; but the hunted > > and hunters among the thick trees lack > > a voice to express their joy. Or perhaps > > it's my mind that fades in and out, > > like some words, like the idea > > of justice? I knew an old man once > > who still nagged at the Purges, the Icepick, > > the Spanish Republic. Lately I > > myself remembered the slogan, > > "Don't forget to smash the state!" – > > its meaning a dried, buried cyst. > > And during the campaign, our friend Lily, > > pushing eighty, volunteered. > > Obama's people sent her to Colorado. > > For six weeks she made phone calls. > > Burnt out one night, she heard herself pleading, > > "Imagine the windmills and clean cars. > > Imagine the citizens' groups. > > Imagine the earth being healed and revitalized. > > Imagine being very proud." > > > > > > > -- > Andrew > http://hispirits.blogspot.com/ >