Hobbling Abstract Elaborators (click to hear it read)
pernicious megalomaniacs devise exquisite sadistic acts
eliciting agony in bastions of dwindling alchemical fathoms
calculating the depths of moral depravity
while syncretic estimable scholars follow acculturating phantoms
inspiring concurrent bemoaning pendulous festers
plodding behind a famished gargantuan aureate ouroboros
examination reveals microscopic mercury lined alabaster
hobbling abstract elaborators while sanity runs
from blistering half jealous pasquinades
requiring unilateral crisp redaction on papyrus
buried under protracted undercurrents of revolutions
underclasses vociferously stalk calcifying ineffectual leaders
spiraling deep hostility toward jangling hues of
striking athodyd pariahs grasping
patchwork visages of astute tricksters
grand mummified calliopes pound insights surpassing
ever widening abysses hewn raw, mouths agape
elocution marred by coral tinged lecherous frolics
words winnow and parse jagged ideologies
with accusations recriminations thundering down upon happenstance
like the lilting verisimilitude of Dogma 95 films
defiles ideal images of humanity
Chromapoetica 
Anna, this is a riptide of vocabulary that pulls the mind reluctantly struggling out of the throes of an overwhelming wash of words to the surface of sense. I absolutely love :
“… sanity runs
from blistering half jealous pasquinades
requiring unilateral crisp redaction on papyrus
buried under protracted undercurrents of revolutions…” the last stanza is also seriously hard hitting. Fun to read, not so much fun to understand and think about, because I’m afraid it’s all too true.
I’m glad to know it was effective, especially appreciate your riptide metaphor, because I wanted to imbue a feeling of being overwhelmed. Yes, it’s all fun and games until someone (or several million people) get(s) hurt. How do we make sense out of nonsense, find the meaning buried under centuries of crusted ideologies, create humane societies, hold on to our own integrity when so many unethical actions are outside our control (each choice now carries far reaching consequences that few of us are aware of let alone understand)? The dissolution of sense reminds me of a book I read on environmental ethics. In it the author discussed the ecologically unaware policies of the national park service. They repeatedly eliminated large predators and then were shocked to find they had problems with deer and other herbivore populations overrunning the land. If you look further, like at the level of electron microscope, you realize there’s an entire other niche so looking at keystone species is important but it’s only one of five million things to consider in an ecosystem. As humans we aren’t capable yet (or may never be) of truly understanding complex systems whether ecological or political or the fluctuations of markets. We have the arrogance but no real knowledge and with the increasing action of ‘silos’, experts in a narrow area, the whole suffers greatly. My, I am on my high horse this morning. I’ll get off and go clean the stables. Or better yet take a day off; I haven’t had one of those in weeks! Thank you again for your perceptive comments.
Norman O. Brown thought mind was at the end of its tether in 1963; o how little did he know how more tether there was to hover at the end of … Sometimes it’s good to gargle with a “riptide” (thanks H) like this and hurl chunks of the miasma right back in Their faces … Now what are we gonna do … Hope you’re enjoying a day out of the fray.
Thank you Brendan and for your reply on my comment. There are days to lick our wounds and leave the fray to others. I’m certainly having one of those days for several reasons and should gracefully exit the stage.
Wow, I’m so glad I read this, absolutely my kind of write, loved every part of it. The word choices are great, but it’s the sound that gets me, rhythmic at times and jagged at others. Really love the piece:)
Thank you very much for your kind compliment. You may also enjoy my other experimental poetry (available under categories to the right).
m a great fan of your intelligent choice of words and how u intelligently along with the wit use to describe the situations which are all around us.
Its always a fun to read your writing 🙂
Thank you, Jyoti for your kind compliment. I’m glad you enjoy your visits. I’m especially happy you keep coming back for more poetry :)! I always enjoy your work too.
Thatz very sweet of u 🙂
Enriching to read, even if only to experience many of these words which are new and interesting to discover for me.
“calcifying ineffective leaders” — the ineffective that are installed by the pernicious old megalomaniacs who use these to hang on the throne do seem harden and never soften no matter how much the people under them cry out to them for what policies they have put in place and cause suffering. This stanza stands out most of all for me and I think I understand it best as I identify with this group. I can’t say much about the other groups I see in here, only that some seems to be trying to hammer it in and force fit the situation even though it’s obvious something is out of place. Mix of protest, denial, and the desperate need to explain the reasons for this and find a way through it all.
Yes, so much suffering occurs through the myriad ways leaders hold on to power, or institutions reinforce it. In the US we can criticize but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re capable of changing a system. I can’t imagine the difficulties faced under some of the more repressive regimes and security states. There must be a way through but there’s a great deal of overwhelming force and abstruse rhetoric to struggle through first. Our systems and societies are getting so complex and sometimes the harm they cause is intended and sometimes a natural consequence that wasn’t anticipated or couldn’t be stopped. Thank you again for your patience in reading these experimental pieces, I find it is impossible to say some of these things in their complexity any other way and not entirely possible through experimental forms but it comes closer.
Another excellent poem Anna…a general first point, I’m really enjoying reading and then listening afterwards, to your lovely voice, it’s wonderful how each time I undergo this process it deepens the experience…your ‘microscope’ has a very special ‘reveal’ing lens…loved ‘mercury lined alabaster hobbling abstract elaborators while sanity runs blistering…’ Also, especially appreciate the imagery revolving around ‘athodyd pariahs grasping’ ‘patchwork visages…tricksters’ For me, I take from this, the sense of the absurdity of societal organistion, based on making it all up as we go along, with the important driver of that mode of organisation being, who grabs first and the hardest…as if this is the only natural order that is possible…as if we are still unable to move beyond basic Darwinian defined instinct/motives….’words winnow and parse jagged’ has a wonderful eloquent resonance…The ending ‘defies ideal images of humanity’ holds a note of inherent hope I feel, expresses that an ideal is imaginable, and imagining is one step from creating, from action (but I am a bit of a Pollyanna it should be said!!)
Thank you for your valuable and thought provoking comments. I too am an optimist (and truthfully an idealist) despite my encounters and experiences. I explain this to myself (for me this is not unresolved cognitive dissonance) as an ability to hold the paradoxical understanding of what is within my sphere of influence and what is not and then act ethically whether it will impact anything or not. Obviously my ethical action is only based on the available information and the decisions I’ve made to define it but it’s all any of us have to navigate in the world. It is possible for us to make a difference as individuals but there are global problems that will require the participation of millions/billions to work through. This is why I believe we each have to act ethically and work toward building ethical societies. One without the other falls short. So glad you caught on to the role of athodyd pariahs grasping – they are extremely inefficient at low speeds and so really only gain power at Mach 3, my metaphor for social/political/economic climbers that once accelerated (given sufficient power) become missiles capable of real destruction. During the Cold War the US build nuclear powered ramjets (athodyds) that were eventually replaced by ICBMs. Thank you for your astute reading and thoughtful comment. It is always wonderful to have you visit :)!
this poem makes me despair
and to feel shame and horror
at my clumsy humanity
this earth is such an exquisite gift
it makes me ache
sometimes our silence is so loud
destructive omission
perhaps some kinds of commitment
cannot find words.
life is hope, applied ethics are vital
ecological safety is imperative
there is only one world
there is no way to abandon
responsibility for its continued
power and beauty
a stoic love
Wow, this is an astute and moving poem in itself! I especially love ‘life is hope, applied ethics are vital/ecological safety is imperative’. Thank you, we are all culpable and all capable of enacting change just as we are all capable of the ‘stoic love’ you so aptly describe. Wonderful to meet you and glad you appreciate the quote from W.S. Merwin.
totally dig this. Very powerful.
Thanks Jesse: I’m loving reading your submission!