I know you mean well, Chuck, but cut the shit out! I have the reach of a very short gnat!
On the other hand, Nah, the 24-year-old Saigon rapper now ensconced in Oklahoma, has given many people in Vietnam, especially the young, a jolt. He's very mature in interviews, and when I listened to one today, I wept.
P.S. Having just read what amounts to Nah's political manifesto, I'll say that I agree with most of his key points while disagreeing with others, but this is to be expected. We're different people. I have even more admiration for Nah's courage and boldness, however, and cannot help but worry about his decision to go back to Vietnam to perform his Fuck Communism rap. I'm sure many people have already warned him that he'll be arrested right at the airport.
Linh: O.K., thank you for being blunt, & I will "cut the shit." However, old enough to see how the Zapruder frame of JFK's skull traveling backward on limo, Jackie in pursuit, I saw how this picture made millions of Americans SEE what they were not supposed to see.
Also, as I read recent comments on Blog, I note many great unheralded (& unorthodox) poet names being mentioned. But can either you or anyone tell me one whose work might have "saved" a nation? Even Milosz's great works could not save Poland from the grip of Milton Friedman & Chicago School of Economics.
Am a little crabby, will get over it. But the seed planted in this particular photo can inspire a couple people, no doubt both good & bad seeds tend to grow among common folk. Wish you & Linky a good day!
Milosz couldn't save Poland from Communism, which became his primary nemesis. What he has done, however, is change how the world sees the tragedies of 20th century Poland, suffering as it did from both Fascism and Communism, and he did this not just through his poetry but polemical books, lectures and, very importantly, his tireless introduction of other Polish writers. He wanted to show that this was how intellectuals who had to suffer such barbarism reacted, and this was how they spoke for their society, and their dignity and gravity was in damning contrast to the many jerk offs he saw in the US.
Linh: There's Wislawa Syzmborka, a gentle and reclusive Polish poet. (1923-February 2012) Oregon poet & friend Robert A. Davies brought her work to my attention a few years ago.
1939, she wrote about Hitler and depicted him as a "innocent" and being photographed on his 1st birthday. Afterward she began writing in the Soviet prescribed Socialist Realism style.
Wislawa reflected , "When I was young I had a moment of believing in the Communist doctrine." She wanted to do something good for mankind, and SAVE the world via Communism.
She understood Communism looks good on paper, but come 1957, she renounced the social system. Wislawa started writing about simple things, common people. She tried to insist her poetry was personal rather than political, but she knew that life intersects with politics.
I liked your poem about the street-talking seagull, and as you please, there's a Google accessible-poem, a non-didactic eulogy for someone close to her, titled, "Cat in an Empty Apartment." It's about the death of someone close to Wislawa that's written from the point of view of her friend's cat.
Because I am a superstitious cat, I really like Szymborska's poem "Lot's Wife."
Finally, your newly posted interview was a terrific learning experience for me. Liked how you discussed bloodless commonality with the Unabomber, and your preference to break bread with a manicurist rather than a... O how forgetful am I, uh, a Una%Fat-Cat.
9 comments:
Linh: Another historical picture which should sum-up reality for everybody but will not.
Thank you!
Yo Chuck,
I felt so sad at this protest because it was so beautiful yet so futile. The moneyed people were inside, and power only goes where money goes.
Linh
Yo Chuck,
If nothing else, protests are at least records of dissent, but then again, most protests are quickly shoved down the memory hole.
Linh
Linh: Don't feel sad, you did good in D.C. And like Milosz said about poetry in "Dedication," your picture is the kind which can save nations.
I know you mean well, Chuck, but cut the shit out! I have the reach of a very short gnat!
On the other hand, Nah, the 24-year-old Saigon rapper now ensconced in Oklahoma, has given many people in Vietnam, especially the young, a jolt. He's very mature in interviews, and when I listened to one today, I wept.
Linh
P.S. Having just read what amounts to Nah's political manifesto, I'll say that I agree with most of his key points while disagreeing with others, but this is to be expected. We're different people. I have even more admiration for Nah's courage and boldness, however, and cannot help but worry about his decision to go back to Vietnam to perform his Fuck Communism rap. I'm sure many people have already warned him that he'll be arrested right at the airport.
Linh: O.K., thank you for being blunt, & I will "cut the shit." However, old enough to see how the Zapruder frame of JFK's skull traveling backward on limo, Jackie in pursuit, I saw how this picture made millions of Americans SEE what they were not supposed to see.
Also, as I read recent comments on Blog, I note many great unheralded (& unorthodox) poet names being mentioned. But can either you or anyone tell me one whose work might have "saved" a nation? Even Milosz's great works could not save Poland from the grip of Milton Friedman & Chicago School of Economics.
Am a little crabby, will get over it. But the seed planted in this particular photo can inspire a couple people, no doubt both good & bad seeds tend to grow among common folk. Wish you & Linky a good day!
Yo Chuck,
Milosz couldn't save Poland from Communism, which became his primary nemesis. What he has done, however, is change how the world sees the tragedies of 20th century Poland, suffering as it did from both Fascism and Communism, and he did this not just through his poetry but polemical books, lectures and, very importantly, his tireless introduction of other Polish writers. He wanted to show that this was how intellectuals who had to suffer such barbarism reacted, and this was how they spoke for their society, and their dignity and gravity was in damning contrast to the many jerk offs he saw in the US.
Linh
Linh: There's Wislawa Syzmborka, a gentle and reclusive Polish poet.
(1923-February 2012) Oregon poet & friend Robert A. Davies brought her work to my attention a few years ago.
1939, she wrote about Hitler and depicted him as a "innocent" and being photographed on his 1st birthday. Afterward she began writing in the Soviet prescribed Socialist Realism style.
Wislawa reflected , "When I was young I had a moment of believing in the Communist doctrine." She wanted to do something good for mankind, and SAVE the world via Communism.
She understood Communism looks good on paper, but come 1957, she renounced the social system. Wislawa started writing about simple things, common people. She tried to insist her poetry was personal rather than political, but she knew that life intersects with politics.
I liked your poem about the street-talking seagull, and as you please, there's a Google accessible-poem, a non-didactic eulogy for someone close to her, titled, "Cat in an Empty Apartment." It's about the death of someone close to Wislawa that's written from the point of view of her friend's cat.
Because I am a superstitious cat, I really like Szymborska's poem "Lot's Wife."
Finally, your newly posted interview was a terrific learning experience for me. Liked how you discussed bloodless commonality with the Unabomber, and your preference to break bread with a manicurist rather than a... O how forgetful am I, uh, a Una%Fat-Cat.
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