They want a culture war?

Let’s give it to them.

Not to Middle America; that’s too easy and not truly what it’s about. In fact, if the left in this country is to survive and thrive, we’re going to have to be a little more sympathetic to these folks — or at least start treating them with less contempt.

It’s really about subverting the mechanisms that cynically use cultural divisions to divide and conquer.

I truly do not believe that the corporate behemoths give a shit about a lot of the cultural conflict zones. I do think they know that they sell easy and hit hard, and that works to keep the public distracted from real stuff like, oh, I don’t know…the world warming up into complete meltdown, the loss of critical biodiversity — you know, the stuff that is going to kill us more surely and more thoroughly than any terrorist.

If anyone can wake the world up, it’s us — because we can. We must.

I want to be clear: I don’t know how to do this. There are people here who do, though, and I want to hear from you.

We have got to start talking in coordinated language if this is going to work. We’ve got to have intelligent, multipart strategies that work from the same principles but use diverse methods to make their progress.

It’s art, it’s culture work, it’s independent media, media sabotage/co-optation, protest, political action, running for office — hell, maybe more. I daresay, more.

But it’s got to be joined in united purpose. I think that’s something to do with self-determination coupled to local and global responsibility, but there’s more.

I don’t really think I know, completely, what I’m saying here, but I know this: if I have to be here, I’ll not be swayed from, at the very least, speaking truth to power.

One more thing: I’m not all that interested in healing, unity, or cooperation today. I may be tomorrow, or the next day — but not today.

I slogged off to my job today, for instance; but the Withdrawal from anything more than what it takes to stay there until I figure out next steps has begun.

Twenty years is a long time to compromise myself.

This is war, isn’t it?

Karen Ethier’s mom passed away Monday. Here is the info on arrangments. The funeral home address is in Woonsocket; Nasonville is in Burrillville.

ETHIER

Patricia Ann (Bartlett) Ethier, 66, of Blackstone Street and formerly of Millville, MA and Nasonville. She was the wife of the late Alfred R. Ethier. Her funeral will be held on Friday at 9 a.m. from the Fournier Funeral Home, 463 South Main Street with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in Saint Theresa’s Church, Nasonville. Burial will be in Saint Charles Cemetery, Blackstone, Ma.Calling hours will be held on Thursday from 5-8 p.m. at the Fournier Funeral Home. Relatives and Friends are invited to attend. The Kilcline Funeral Home 304 North Main Street is in charge of the arrangements. Donations may be made to the Westerly Health Center Recreation Dept. 280 High Street Westerly, RI 02891 or the Saint Francis House 167 Blackstone Street Woonsocket, RI 02895. http://www.kilclinefuneralhome.com

For all you Kerry fans out there:

Explain, to me and to yourselves, how you were so wrong in your estimates of the election.

I suspect you will find some clues to the loss there.

+++++++++++++++++++

EDIT: This shouldn’t be an exercise in self-flagellation, by the way…more a start at learning from mistakes.

The way it looks right now, all Bush has to do is pick up Ohio and one other state and it’s all over — and he’s holding onto leads in Ohio, New Mexico, and Iowa as of this writing.

I know I predicted this, but I did not think it would hit me so hard.

Canada is no longer an option, so what do I do now?

Come back to the fight, I guess..but what form does it take now? It’s pretty clear the old forms don’t work.

It’s time for bed…and like so many others, I’ll wake up feeling dread-ful.

Let’s hope we find a useful way to translate this into fury…

Earlier tonight, Steven Colbert on the Daily Show suggested that all of the suggestions that people will be making in the days ahead about unity and reconciliation are stupid, that the American body politic works best on rage and anger translated into action.

He was kidding. I’m not sure I am.

14 people.

3 won’t reveal vote.

7 Bush.

3 Kerry.

1 Green.

I left the Youth Slam tonight at the beginning of the second round; which means I never got to see Sage’s feature, although we did speak briefly and I apologized to him before I left.

I did see him last month, so I don’t feel too bad.

I am finding slams more and more difficult to sit through. My heckling, which is usually gentle and fairly and equitably delivered (I think), felt really edgy to me tonight. I knew I had to go. I was on the verge of embarrassing myself.

I am losing my taste for the entire scene.

More and more, I just want to hear good poems read well to a crowd that can appreciate and reward good work as is merited, while still being respectful of the voices of those who need to speak without being great poets.

I don’t feel that in slams anymore.

Maybe I’m just getting old and jaded. Maybe I’m just old.

I know I have moved beyond this. And I hate that, at least for tonight.

__________________________________________________________________________

More thought has revealed to me a more succinct description of what I miss in slams, and what I want more of these days: a sense of sacred space.

__________________________________________________________________________

As for election news:

— Only vote if you have a clue what you’re doing. I’m not a person who believes you should exercise a privilege you don’t earn by preparing yourself.

— I hope my sense of dread is just indigestion.

— For the record, I voted already as an absentee voter. And I voted Green.

Hmmmm…

There’s a terrorist alert out for Americans in Nordic and Baltic countries, based on “specific, concrete information” according to the Norwegians.

Can’t imagine why or where that came from.

Esepcially not after bin Laden makes a point about not attacking Sweden.

Jesus H.

I just transferred the last batch of poems I’ve written from LJ to Word for safekeeping…

and there were 9 poems since I last updated the file.

Jesus H., yet again.

I had no idea I was doing that much writing here, thinking it was mostly a diversion from the more solitary work I traditionally do.

And I like these better. Maybe I needed the change.

I don’t understand cycles of writing — what prompts them, how they work. Mostly, that’s ok, but there’s part of me that wishes I did understand, and how it connects to my mood swings…I don’t think there’s an easy correlation, but it would be useful to know from a diagnostic standpoint.

Anyway…I printed these out so I’d have stuff to read at Sage’s WAG show tonight. Who else is going?

Something in me wants to write a poem
that has the line “the blue dogs of Canaan”
in it somewhere. I do not want to begin that poem.

The blue dogs of Canaan do not exist
outside of my reluctance. I cannot hear
their imaginary barking until I say I can.

Does considering the blue dogs of Canaan
create them, or do they have to be
breathed to be created?

If there is such a thing as a poem
at all here, there is a thing that calls itself God as well.
The blue dogs of Canaan run noisily after it.