I liked 2 & 3 & 7, the rest was alright. as far as basic observational
wartime poetry goes, these weren't bad at all. but they weren't out of
the ordinary either. war poetry whose [that's?!] context is as obvious
as this is hard to pull off, I think, because there's always the
balance between it being independent POETRY & context-dependent
POLITICS (or such) -- because the politics part has a way of being
given more credence than the poetry aspect, & when that happens
there's the danger that people start thinking that just because it's
political, it can be justified as being good (or Great).
whereas something like the Waste Land, while inseparable from its
worldwar-context, was written as "a(n epic) poem", rather than "a
critique of the values & problematics of the 20th century world as
raised by the First World War". when I read a poem, I don't want to
feel like I'm reading a manifesto or an essay. this 'Failure' feels
like neither (& it certainly isn't a failure), but it still feels
opinionated in a way that could do with some distancing. not
de-focusing, just a bit of a step into generality. it's rather
unremarkable otherwise.
but: nice. :)
K S
On 05/09/06, Stephen Vincent <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> The poem below came my way this morning. In these States, we often hear that
> the questioning and opposition to Israeli policies by Israelis is much more
> vigorous than most
> of what we experience in this country where much of the the opposition and
> discussion gets vanquished
> by x, y and z forces. But without rehearsing the reasons for all that, here
> is as the note with the poem goes on to say:
>
> Recent poem by Aharon Shabtai, an Israeli poet. A few years back
> New Directions published translations of earlier poems in a collection
> called J'ACCUSE.
> ________________________________________________
>
>
> FAILURE
>
>
>
> 1
>
> I pray
> for the failure
> of this
> stinking war
>
> spread your wings
> and come, merciful failure
> come
>
> (16 July 2006)
>
>
> 2
>
> Planes
> rattle
> toward Lebanon
> diving
> toward Ba'albak
> to destroy
> a bottle factory
>
>
> 3
>
> I pray
> that the plane
> with a bomb in its belly
> will be beaten
> by the building's ceiling
>
>
> 4
>
> In the name of the beautiful
> books I've read-
>
> in the name of the kisses
> I've kissed-
>
> may the army be vanquished
>
>
> 5
>
> The Gauleiter
> of Lebanon
> has already promised
> to establish
> military rule
>
>
> 6
>
> When the tanks
> reach the Litani
> grenades will be thrown
> at them from the Ebro's banks
>
>
> 7
>
> In this war
> I'm for
> the villages
> for the mosques
>
>
> 8
>
> In this war
> I'm for
> the Shi'ite family
> for Tyre
>
>
> 9
>
> for the mother
> the grandfather
> for the eight
> kids in the minivan
> for the white
> silk kerchief
>
>
>
> 10
>
> Ruff ruff ruff
> ruff ruff ruff
> barks Olmert
>
>
> 11
>
> Ruff ruff ruff
> ruff ruff ruff
> barks Ramon
> (the minister of justice)
>
>
> 12
>
> The odor of failure
> wafts from the mouth
> the stink
> of war from the tongue
>
>
> 13
>
> Israelis strong
> the sign shouts
> from the newspaper building
> spurring the diners on
> toward Chimichanga.*
>
> ____________
>
> * A fancy Mexican restaurant in Tel Aviv
>
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