Dear America

When I came to this continent I met Ralph Waldo Emerson

and society as a home built by friendship 

and barns built by community.

Jobs for and with people — but you were awed by capitalism 

the transcendence of economy above sentiment, 

fantastic things, celebrity, the remaking of men 

and woman — a toy to play with

that only a few souls could influence.

The universal church of screens, talking heads and red lips, 

new words for new meanings, crash and bang 

you made it up and presented us with Jesus the superstar 

and Trump the christ — in the new world anyone can be 

a balloon floating on air and who needs real people 

when you can turn it on and turn it off again

but we cannot escape the meaning of this wizard who replaced 

shamans, kings and emperors with prisons for profit.  

Let them eat candy floss.

While the great fascists of Europe were fed oil and gas

you were singing in the rain and loving Lucy and we 

lapped it up like cream and sugar allowing Albert Einstein 

and Hannah Arendt to teach truth which nearly caught on
until the next economist came out with new puffs

and by then we were marshmallow chums

singing kumbaya around the campfire

more fun than British Bulldogs

(bobby sox were not for the stiff upper lip)

and those hippies knew how to put an end to war

until the neo-liberal economy crossed out

every living thing from the Amazon Forrest

to the orca whale and all that remains

is the lizard brain and far-sighted raptor.

Neo-nazi’s, I suspect,  are supported by two camps 

those afraid the people will create a new future

and those traumatized before they met tenderness.

Now the continent must be returned

to the earth and its inhabitants

or wordless bonfires without borders

will finish the game.

How to escape the mess we are in

George Monbiot expressed it so well.
Is it reasonable to hope for a better world? Study the cruelty and indifference of governments, the disarray of opposition parties, the apparently inexorable slide towards climate breakdown, the renewed threat of nuclear war, and the answer appears to be no. Our problems look intractable, our leaders dangerous, while voters are cowed and baffled. Despair looks like the only rational response.

The mess is the outcome of a long social and political fantasy - that dictates man must be in control of nature. This false assertion has disabled his ability to reflect on his relationship to the world. He cannot allow himself the vulnerability of feelings beyond the will to power. 

Every decade he invents more gadgets, weapons, and things to believe in, to possess, to give his life meaning, and every decade he creates new problems, new crises, wars, inequality, prisons, punishments and propaganda - to avoid the realization that he is not in control.

This torture has created the normalization of a mental illness, a game of elevating the self, competing with others for a fleeting sense of power. It demands that everyone exhibit the same values, the same mental illness, the same obsessions.

They are measured in new ages, new conceits and fashions - but ultimately it is about bringing an end to life - because life cannot submit to the game.  Life does not worship power over itself, unless man kills everything that refuses to submit to his will. 

The fantasy is that the eternal ruler will be the one who destroys everything else, including his own life.  The fantasy is that the narrative will be written in the barren rocks, fields and oceans.

It began with patriarchy, when men had to prove they were superior to women by overcoming their senses, by replacing their flesh with armour. Then having to keep those muscles in place by "discovering" other places, building temples, boats and doctrines. The mind had to be fought, wrestled into submission too. 

Masculinity removes man from nature, from the land, to that Zulu sentence-word that means "over there where I cry mother I am lost." Man must be broken in, taken from the protection of a loving family, from the comfort of his own nature to be the robotic soldier, the king, the executioner. 

Giving birth, love, nurture, compassion, healing, reflecting - all are dismissed as feminine, sissy, and wimpish. Death is for glory and life is for wimps.

The mess we are in is the breakdown of our own nervous system, our own eyes, our own hearts. The hatred we are asked to express is the contempt for our selves projected onto the other.

The way to escape this mess is by loving ourselves and through compassion for the suffering of others.

Quilt of Belonging A Place for All Documentary

Thanks to Germaine Kovary who introduced me to this  documentary which lasts 47 minutes - it is a good description of who Canadians are.

League of Canadian Poets -- chapbook to spotlight work of Black poets

The LCP Chapbook Series is now accepting submissions for a chapbook which will spotlight the work of Black poets, to be published in 2020. In celebration of contemporary writing in Canada, the chapbook will amplify Black voices that continue to enrich, question, and propel literature in Canada, playing a part in doing-away with single-thread narratives of the Black Canadian experience. We specifically encourage writers with intersecting marginalized identities to submit.  Poets may submit 1-3 poems for consideration. Guest editor Chelene Knight will select 1-2 poems by 10 poets. Chelene wants to see writing that pushes the rigid boundaries of form and writing that’s infused with an unapologetic voice.  The chapbook will be designed and hand-sewn by Nicole Brewer, the League’s Administrative Director and one half of the words(on)pages team. Contributors will receive payment of $25 per published poem plus 3 copies of the chapbook. There is no submission fee.  The submission deadline is October 31, 2019. The chapbook will be published during Black History Month (February) 2020.  Submission guidelines:  Poetry submissions may consist of one to three previously unpublished (print or online) poems in any style (including prose poems).Hybrid forms are highly encouraged by the editor.  Length is flexible, though poems longer than 2 pages will be considered only if they are of exceptional quality and no longer than 4 pages.  All submissions should be in doc, docx, or PDF format.  Include a cover letter with your name, email address, and a short (100 words or under) bio. If you would like to identify yourself as belonging to an equity-seeking group, please mention it in your cover letter.  All submissions must be sent to info@poets.ca.  We accept simultaneous submissions. If your piece is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately.  Submissions are open to members of the League of Canadian Poets. With this project, the League aims to create space and facilitate representation for marginalized poets and we recognize that folks holding marginalized identities may face barriers to access in gaining membership to the League. We are committed to working with those folks facing barriers, specifically financial barriers, who have an interest in participating in this project. Please email info@poets.ca if the cost of membership is a barrier to your participation in the League. For more information: http://poets.ca/lcpchapbookseries-blackpoets/

New Political Party starting now

Planet Earth Party

According to the Beaverton "OTTAWA – Elections Canada is issuing a special warning to all advocacy groups that they should not issue any scientifically verifiable facts during the election that would interfere with Canada’s democracy."

After reading about the ban on climate change discussions at Election debates I have started a new Political Party.  It's called Planet Earth Party.

I am currently looking for people to join and someone to lead the party. If you are interested send me an email here: Planet Earth Party.  State your manifesto, your name and your experience as a citizen of Planet Earth.

The first point on our mandate will be to make it illegal to talk about anything that does not relate to a sustainable future on this planet.

This may sound extreme but we believe that any politics that does not benefit all of humanity is dangerous.

We do not care how you dress, what language you speak, the colour of your skin, where you were born, whether you are skinny or fat, or even if you can hold an argument.

A manifesto will be written and publicized soon.

If we get elected we promise to care more for this planet and all its sentient beings than any other issue, and we shall make decisions based on that value.

We must end neoliberal capitalism before it ends us

"... the corporate power elite and the governments that do their bidding implicitly understood that there would no longer be any toleration for political ideologies whose goal was to brutally repress human beings. So, the question for the latter was always how to ensure that the right class continued to be in a position of control and dominance, while at least providing the appearance of freedom and democracy for everyone else." 

Fred Guerin, 

Truthout

People Values vs. Political Will

"Close to 80% believe wealthy Americans should pay higher taxes. Nearly 60% favor raising the federal minimum wage requirement to $12 an hour. Sixty-one percent, including 42% of Republicans, approve of labor unions. Sixty percent of Americans think “[i]t is the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans have healthcare,” and 60% of registered voters favor “expanding Medicare to provide health insurance to every American.” Nearly 60% favor free early-childhood education, and 76% are “very concerned” about climate disruption. Eighty-four percent support requiring background checks for all gun buyers. Fifty-eight percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases." Chris Hedges, Truthdig.



In New Zealand:

A Wellington train conductor has been hailed as a hero for literally stopping a train in its tracks after a racist taunt between passengers turned nasty last night.

The train had left the Wellington Railway station for Upper Hutt but came to a halt after the conductor overheard a passenger racially abusing another for speaking Hindi on his cellphone.

One of the passengers on the train, who asked not to be named, said the incident unfolded at around 8pm last night.

"A young girl, about 16, was yelling at a passenger and saying 'go back to your country, don't speak that language here'," she told Checkpoint.

"She said she was getting off at the next stop, and the conductor said 'no you can get off at this one, I'm not putting up with that nonsense'" www.rnz.co.nz. Driver Stops Train Demands Racist Passenger Get Off