Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Original Song/2d In New Series/Forgive CT

(P1) Poetical

Song


Where Have All True Demos Gone?

(Ed Coletti to the tune of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?")

Where have all true Demos gone?
we must be asking.
Where have all true Demos gone,
since Roosevelt?
Where have all true Demos gone,
conciliating placators?
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where are all the radicals?
we must be asking.
Where are all the radicals?
since days of rage
Where are all the radicals?
Gone suburban every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all idealists gone,
Since late Sixties?
Where have all idealists gone?
So long behind
Where have all idealists gone?
Gone to believe what they hear
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the soldiers gone?
Still unchanging.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
this time again.
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to greedy oil wars.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

What of all their families?
lost and grieving.
What of all the families?
All bereft of hope.
What of all the families
Are you all still listening?
When will they ever learn?
When will you ever learn?

Please Post Your Comments Here about the above or any below and/or Read the Comments of Others.You can sign in as "blogger" or "other" but please add your name or initials to your text. Or email me at edcoletti@sbcglobal.net. We need your feedback.


(P2) Philosophical


Number 2 From Our New Series
(
Things Even I Know That George Bush Doesn't)

(2) "Wonder, and its expression in poetry and the arts, are among the most important things which seem to distinguish me from other animals, and intelligent and sensitive people from morons."

-Alan Watts in The Book: On Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are"

(1) "In all there are more than seven thousand known species of dung beetles without which the earth would literally smother in excrement."

-Carl Hiaasen in Sick Puppy


Please Post Your Comments Here about the above or any below and/or Read the Comments of Others.You can sign in as "blogger" or "other" but please add your name or initials to your text. Or email me at edcoletti@sbcglobal.net. We need your feedback.

(P3) Political

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Although we are now crossing the line between poetry and politics, I'll respond anyway. Great stuff Eddie. Way to go.

Anonymous said...

I like the Carl Haissen quote on dung beetles. We must be getting close to the7000 species number in Washington.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ed!

I have a poetry related question and this forum is a perfect place to air it.

How does one develop an appreciation for poetry?

I am a voracious reader of a multitude of topics, yet I am unable to read poetry without thinking "who writes this stuff"?

I know you are a poet. Can you offer something to help, or is the appreciation of poetry something inside a person that has to already exist?

Thanks,

Paul

Anonymous said...

As per Carl Hiassen's factoid on dung beetles and how without them the earth would be covered with excrement. Can we get some beetles over to Washington?

Ed Coletti said...

Paul,

For starters, any intelligent human being will appreciate poetry if he or she gets a proper start toward not trying to figure it all out, breathing, looking at the poem with your eyes half closed so to speak - this might help you not take things too literally. Symbols and images can be most evocative. Have fun with it. Poetry lives in and creates pregnant moments. These are just a few ideas off the cuff.

What are some of your avocational interests? Perhaps we can get you a few poems on these themes. Since I know of your passion for chess, I'll send you a couple of my own that came from Chess (from 6-10 yrs ago).

Read poems over at least 3 times. One tip: When I first studied modern poetry at Georgetown as a freshman in 1961, I read John Ciardi's wonderful anthology, "How Does a Poem Mean." I don't know if it's still available, but I mention it because of the word "How." Most people will ask "What"? They miss the point of poetry. Welcome.

Anonymous said...

Well, this IS a large topic! One I'll be happy to address more in the next few days. But first, let me say that reading poetry is a creative act -- which is why you're finding it very different from reading that "multitude of topics." Good poetry moves beyond the literal so it requires a way of thinking that also moves beyond the literal. If you're really interested in developing an appreciation for good poetry (I stress "good" because there is a lot of crapola out there), you can, and your life will be enriched for it. Like I said, I'll add more to this discussion IF DESIRED, but I'll end for now with a poem by Stephen Bauer:

INTRO TO POETRY

You thought it was math that taught
the relation of time and speed
but it's farther than you knew
from that sun-lit white-walled classroom
to this darkened lounge with its couch
and overstuffed chairs. How many miles,
would you say, since you talked
as if poetry were no distorting mirror,
one-way street? But listen, sometimes
it's like this, a stranger's Ford pulls up,
and you, with no plans for the afternoon,
get in. He doesn't talk, stares at the road
and it's miles before you understand
you didn't want to travel. His lips say no
as you reach for the radio's knob.

In this silence you fall deeper
into yourself, and even the car
disappears, the stranger's face blurs
into faded upholstery, and all things
being equal, you're alone as though
you've wandered into a forest with night
coming on, no stars, the memory of sun
and a voice's asking Is this my life?

-------------------------

Best,
Katherine

Anonymous said...

Amazing, Ed... and disconcerting! Thanks very much. I'm going to print it out and hang it on my wall.

- joe carpenter