The personal space of Alcuin of York

I had an online conversation with someone over a poem that had been computer-generated. I said I felt it wasn't art, and she responded with,

"I think the lesson here is that art is as much the product of the recipient as of the artist. It's a conversation between intent and reality, on the active end, and between reality and perception, on the passive side. So there's not really any such thing as counterfeit vs. real art, only deliberate vs. accidental. The complication comes from assuming that art is strictly a vehicle for communication between people, which simply isn't true. While art excels in this capacity, it's a bit like saying that water's purpose is to quench thirst. It's an arbitrary and inaccurate limitation that overlooks other functions."
I disagreed and responded with,

Success

It's said ‘success comes not to the faint of heart'.
Indeed, it calls on those whose practiced arts
are feigning smarts and quick-time verbal darts
and teethy smiles,
disarming wiles
and deals in secret swung
and genuflections sung
to those with purse well-hung.


Career

Men mingle, paired or single, round a room,
propelled by pasted smiles - to orbit whom?
They seek the sun for warmth - return to womb,
or hope in turn
themselves to burn.
Bizarre, this solar system - gaseous giants
spin nearest Sol, yet barely move - pretense                      
of proper orbit, faking comet's brilliance.


Money

Discovered destitution disappoints.
Impaled by chance on economic points,
your snazzy home or sporty car disjoints.
Perhaps someday
you'll make your way
to sunny Shangri-la -
like salmon you once saw,
regain U-to-pi-a.


Sex

Nocturnal dreams come either dry or wet;
diurnal thoughts envision perfect pet -
another's mate or office bait - and yet
when heart impels
to ring their bells
your partner will suffice.
Imagined bods entice -
and make you do it twice.


Sleepless Dreams

I've seen the harried man whose nights were tossed
by hopes that morphed to monsters, sourly sauced
by thoughts his aspirations might be lost:
What never was
and never does
might never do or be -
from nothing gained, you see,
regards himself in poverty.


Dreamless Sleep

I've seen spent men with minds devoid of dreams -
who lost the gleam that lit their morning schemes;
or never gazed at stars or mused extremes;
the young heart idled
from passions bridled -
complacent sauntering cow;
compliant mule at plow,
now stuck in the ruts of his brow.

Alcuin of York

I find incredible the repetition of the blindness and irrationality that is currently manifesting itself in this country. To you who say that foreigners should not criticize the US because they don't understand, let me ask if you think you shouldn't comment or criticize other nations. After all, that would follow logically. People in most other nations above the third world know more about us than most American know about them. Heck, most Americans can't even locate another country on a map, and some can't even find the continents.

I would remind you of the words in the Declaration of Independence: "...a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires..." It was one of Jefferson's (and other founding fathers) reasons for writing the document. Perhaps you don't think you can learn from them something about proper American values, but I disagree. The opinions of foreign nations were important to them. Today, with our growing dependence on foreign nations for our materiel, energy, money and brainpower, we must be even more sensitive to the opinions of mankind. I might also remind you that the person whose writing rights you criticized is a citizen of one of the "Coalition of the Willing". That gives her the right to criticize her government's actions, and by extension, its allies.

When I said at the beginning "repetition of the blindness and irrationality", I was referring to history. We wronged the American Indians, then later felt bad and said we wouldn't make that mistake again. We interred the Japanese-Americans in WWII, and later said we wouldn't do that again. We gave way to hysteria and meanness during the McCarthy era, then said it was a mistake and we wouldn't do it again. We yelled and screamed about dominoes during the Vietnam War; today we trade with them and say we won't do that again. And now we're in Iraq, doing it again.

One of the other things our founding fathers said was that the greatest threat to liberty was war. Yes, they actually said it. It was the main reason behind Washington's (George, not the capitol) warning to avoid foreign entanglements. It was the reason most of the founding fathers wanted us to NOT have a large standing army. For several years of the new republic, we did not even possess a navy. One other thing they recognized is that democracy could not exist without certain preconditions. One was the condition of being informed about current events. This was necessary for the people to make good choices, and is the primary reason behind both the First Amendment and their push for universal education. Most Americans are ridiculously uninformed - more than half STILL believe WMD's were found in Iraq following our latest invasion; they are unaware that we put Saddam's party in power in the 1970's; and they have never read a book by Chalmers Johnson or any other writer (there are literally dozens) who reveal our sordid past. They still think we're number one in the world in things like education, health care, per-capita income, life expectancy, etc. In short, their worldview is frozen in the 1950's.

The other precondition for democracy is dissent. Where there is no dissent there is no democracy, but right-wingers tend to confuse dissent with disloyalty. Some think that dissent should not be aired during wartime. We found the German people guilty for remaining silent during wartime, and rightly so. To wait to speak up until after evil has already wreaked its damage is immoral.

The fact is that this country could withstand a 9/11 event every single year, and never fall. Our population grows annually by a hundred times the loss of life we endured on that day, and the economy grows by twenty times. But we cannot endure if our liberties are lost even once. They have been encroached upon by both Clinton and Bush to an extent that citizens of my parents' generation would not have tolerated for two seconds. But that was when Americans were braver, better educated, and more civic-minded. If I had to guess, I would give the American Empire less than 20 years before it - like most empires - wears itself out.

Alcuin of York

Bird knows flap,
wings know warp,
          one pulls,
                    two twist and wave...
                              rise...rise......rise.

People think,
but
poets flap,
waving mind within unnameable ether -
          eddys of memory's breath
          and zephyring blood -
till psyche warps and woofs,
          weaves above weir
                    twists beyond time
                              looks beyond light
                                        connects beyond dots

soul leaps aloft
Rise! Rise! Rise!
mondo, mondo, mondo
makes mundane
drop
          away...
                    poet floats
                              and poetry flows

Chapter V

And behold, Pharaoh dreamt of seven fatted cows,
followed by seven lean cows,
and Joseph prophesied seven years of plenty
followed by seven years of scarcity.
And Pharaoh decreed that grain be set aside
throughout the land during the time of plenty,
and rationed out during the time of famine.
Yet the people followed not Pharaoh,
but the golden jackass instead, saying,
"That would be a tax for the fat years.
It would be to tax fat!
It would be welfare for the lean years.
It would be regulation.
These are all sins
against the free market
we worship unto death;
and on whose altar we sacrifice the poor."

And the Lord looked down at the people's folly
and waxed wroth;
and unto them He said,
"I will greatly multiply your sorrows and afflictions;
In sorrow shall the many scrape by,
and your brethren of other lands will ridicule thee,
and your progeny will curse thee
for jacking up the realm,
for jacking their wealth,
for ignoring the weal."

"For I say unto you, your golden jackass is lame
when the fruits of your labors be scarce.
For the sons of men will bear any burden
for the necessaries of life.
Yea, when the cup runneth not over,
woe to the sons of Adam Smith,
for the Hidden Hand then becometh a fist."

Chapter IV

Then said the Lord unto me,
"Woe unto the land,
for the most of the host shall be brought low,
and the few who rise shall ignore the rest.
Yea, though gatherers of gold brag their charity,
they battle decrees that would lessen their spoils
to aid the land."
(chorus)           Seat belts and safety,
                        and health care solutions
                        emission restrictions
                        to stop some pollutions
                        food inspections
                        small erections
                        these are a few of their feared Fabian things
CEO's in their suits and suites -
they toil not, but Oh, how they spin!
Yet they are provided for ­-
by their friends on compensation committees.
Yea, they preach to the multitudes:
"Blessed are the poor SOBs,
for they work for us;
Blessed are the meek,
for they won't unionize;
Blessed are the multi-taskers,
for they lack time to reflect.
Ye are the salt of the earth,
whom we throw over our shoulders for good luck."

And the Lord spake
"Gather those who are sinless,
who resent not rendering tribute to the land
that maketh their crops flourish.
Go ye forth and a build a paradise
that all may rejoice and prosper throughout the realm."

But the lawgivers' ears were stopped, stuffed
with green wads,
given by those who fear sharing.
Kings heard not the cries of the poor and afflicted.
Yea, golden trumpets drowned out the needs
of the many,
and laws were made to give alms to the rich.

Alcuin of York

Chapter VI

The prophet saith,
"Hear ye, O New Jerusalem!
You have fallen low,
neither set above other nations by your fine cars and
clothes,
nor raised to virtue by your castles.
For these have weighed you down
made you a drayhorse without a master.
Remember ye that God did not create the world to increase His profit."

And I heard seven boomboxes sound,
and the heavens opened and a mighty voice said,
"You have lost your way!"
And I saw heaven opened, and behold,
a great red horse
bearing soldiers on top,
and munitions jobs behind;
and the people sleepmarched toward the abyss.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold,
a white horse
bearing the clean slate of ignorance on top
and uncivil strife behind;
and the people scowled and walked amiss toward the abyss
And I saw heaven opened, and behold,
a green horse
bearing conceited CEO's on top,
and a flag with stars behind;
and the people saluted as they multi-tasked toward the abyss.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold,
an elephant
bearing a clown on top,
and radios and flat-screens behind,
and the people laughed their way to the abyss.

And there was a great light,
and I saw a golden chariot fringed with fire
arc across the sky and pass close by -
and it was empty.
And the Lord spake,
"You have lost your way,
and there ain't no X-Men!"

Alcuin of York