LITERATURE AND DRY TOAST
Richmond, VA.
is not just the capitol of historical hotheads. A heart-skip
moment occurred during the Satellite Communications hearing
when the judge asked witness John Malone to refrain from
poetic speech. The former president of TCI was known for
such expressions as “snarky-babble-talk” and “global bio-technosphere”.
The poet in me was incensed and outraged, especially when
only a short time ago, judge Ito in his technospherical
courtroom declared OJ 's DREAM to be admissible into
evidence. What an example of political twisting and bias.
Same thing with the whole hanging chad fiasco. As Al Gore
says, when one's income depends on the outcome you know
who's going to win.
What is it about dreams and goals that differs so sharply
with poetry and prophecy. Only the literate buttoned-down
citizen goal-seeker can have a dream as well as political
legitimacy, while the desert dwelling water-hole
poet-prophet must beg for a pittance and a soap box to stand
on. The bias between these gulfs of thought and practice is
clear the world over, tis not a local phenom. Easy to
dismiss as obvious but not so easy when compared to
historical evidence. There was a time and place when dreams
could get you burned at the stake and only the words of the
prophets were tolerated. Poetry has moved the world in the
past and even has a few listeners on Sundays between 11 AM
and 12 noon. Some would go on to say that The Book of
Revelations (apocalyptic speech) has more speculative
fiction than any Sci-Fi story ever written.
Like many poets and artists I talk and reference the Bible
all the time, but solemnly swear on it that I'm not a Bible
freak, and that I only go to church for weddings and
funerals. The Bible, as much as I respect it, has never been
much more than a desk reference object in my arsenal of desk
references. It sits next to my Roget's, and my American
Heritage dictionary, my foreign and dead language
collection, Mythology books, and such rare and marvelous lit
critics as John Senior and Joseph Warren Beach. Though my
first poets were Dylan Thomas, T. S. Eliot and Lawrence
Ferlanghetti, I have not ventured much farther out and
beyond than say, Gary Snyder, Naomi Nye (she has a new name
now) and Robert Haas. I haven't bought a copy of Poetry
Magazine but I struggle to keep up with Best American Poetry
each year. I'm interested in writing and not so much people
who write. I don't feel the need to learn the secret of
their success. I don't go in for vanity presses, schools of
poetry, or Poet's and Writer's type rags. P&W is a much
better venue for advertising time-shares or a poetic
get-away.
Literature in the USA has come down to a trickling symbolic
fountain called "The Great American Novel" (or novella) It
sits next to same great American waste basket as the great
American Epic and the great American poetry collection. We
can not all thrive on news stories like Lowell Thomas and
John Dos Passos. I was probably one of
the last American public school students to have literature
and poetry force-fed to a starving mind. My family's
knowledge and appreciation of literature and poetry was
abysmal and went little farther than pulp, sensation and
Lewis Caroll's Jabberwocky. (and news stories) In college I
read every poet, every Sci-Fi, every speculative prophet I
could find in the library.
I never heard of Trendology even
though I read all of Marshall McLuhan's books and found
myself buying into them as though they were a panacea of
wisdom that everyone should know about, but Trendology is
where I always end up. I have not read this book I am making
an example of. Don't let the glossy PIE chart fool you. It
could be twenty black birds or clam cobbler. Try it you
might like it or let's get Mikey. (who still lives and did
not explode from an overdose of Pop Rocks and soda) Faith
Popcorn is also a Trendologist whom I respect but I think
you have to swear an oath of allegiance to her before you
can get her advice. She's not like me, spilling and brimming
with ideas freely given away. As Tom Stewart Ford says,
"Nobody has as many great ideas as Jimmy Warner", but if he
wants to disclaim that statement, I don't mind. This essay
is not about me or anyone in particular. I'm an American
writer with an independent American mind. Independence is
the all-American symbol. It's the stubborn, feisty
independence you find in Faulkner, Hemingway and Steinbeck.
Literature has for most of us left the
taste of dry toast in our mouths, a cardboard cereal
impression, great wall of text, I believe is the current
expression. Who reads this stuff?: 10% of the world
population is one estimate. Sounds like a global failure to
educate students about anything let alone stir things up
everywhere. Hearsay, I believe is the most relied on medium
of the day. That, of course, is a gigantic game of
pass-it-on. Both the fog content and the gibberish content
explode exponentially. Jabberwocky babble talk spreads like
wildfire. There is an abstract appreciation of it in art,
advertising and media art of all kinds. It drives everything
from soap opera to product marketing. Reputation is
insignificant as long as it looks good, smells good, and
won't kill you. If it CAN kill you there's still a niche for
it in cyberspace somewhere.
Writers today have a know-it-all,
self-conscious but not self aware, albeit condescending
attitude towards subjects that could become symbol but which
resist being hijacked for such a shallow cause. Bret Easton
Ellis, Dave Eggers, Chuck Palahniuk, and David Foster
Wallace are, perhaps, most well known for the post modern
attitude. I have the same problem, knowing what I know and
standing against the cold, hard background of "who cares".
Ultimately it is the writer who must care in some small way
either for his audience or the future of writing. It has
always been ok to write about something you know nothing
about and see where it takes you, see who salutes or listen
for the sound of raspberries and boos. Me and some other
poets are often accused of writing porno poetry because of
sexual references.
Symbols always deal with big issues,
birth, death, sex, religion, politics, money and I would add
lastly, symbol number seven - spirit. These are my favorite
things. Of these death, sex and religion seem to have more
potential for humor because of the survival struggle
built-in to their causes. Survival can be one of the most
open-end, creative processes humans do. Birth, politics and
money are just the typical, expected things humans resort to
when youthful, altruistic, faith-based creativity goes bust.
Faith in one's self and unfocused spirituality require lots
of energy. This leads like the Fool Tarot symbol to folly
and disappointment or to the ultimate heaven on earth.
Survival, like the Devil Tarot card leads to bondage,
entrapment or some semblance of a responsible life.
Spirit lives in a superior relation to all other human
qualities and actions, namely that of transcendent and
cosmic power that comes from meditation and contemplation of
life itself and all its correspondences and connections to
everything that makes a life come to life, sparks the inner
limits of personhood and personality, empowers people to
reach beyond themselves and be happy with that form of
expanded mentality. One can have a mind that reacts to fears
and follows the common path, or a mind that obsesses and
lives in an imaginative future of dismal prospects, or best
of all, a declarative, menu mind of choice and selectivity –
which would you choose? A declarative mind-set is more
likely to suspend judgment, reserve opinion, be deferential
and a patient brainstorm negotiator. Spirit is the swinging
door of all creative effort.
I wish to say that I’m no
longer sensitive to the pedestrian dismissal of creative and
unusual diction, literary sub-reference, and poetic speech.
In the wrong venue or hands of the inexperienced
practitioner it pisses people off.
The point I wish to make concerns the
using and interpreting of symbol when your profession tends
to get in the way. For a Tarot reader, the cards are not
understood by the client and it's not your job to explain
them - unless the client wants to be your student. Your job
is to translate the ideas into topics and areas of the
client's life that they can relate to. This essay is hardly
the kind of subject the client is interested in.
Never-the-less, wisdom of any kind is useful to pass on if
you sense a problem that could have an intellectual
solution. Living with gypsies, I heard repeatedly, "Oh,
we're going to have to move", every time someone was dealt
the Tower card. Symbols are not one layer thick and cannot
have a single interpretation. They are not allegorical with
a four layer structure although they relate to that
pre-medieval ideal of the four elements, earth, water, air,
and fire. Tarot has evolved into a more American standard of
meditative symbolism that if imaged properly can heal the
weary and confused victims of contemporary society, assuming
that your clients trust you. It is, after all, a voo-doo-like
belief system that evokes symbols for healing whether the
client knows the symbolism or not. The trust lies in your
ability to interpret correctly and convey the proper
curative psychology.
All this
sounds like “it’s just a symbol”, but for those who use
imagery for their own self-healing, I assure you that the
mind is the strongest doctor. You cannot dismiss this
practice as a venue for charlatans and weak minded
believers. Minds are as strong as they need to be, given the
motivation and desire to be healed. It is best not to be
poetic or use poetic language to get your ideas across to a
client. If you insist on the occult, mysterioso approach you
better have a layman’s down-to-earth translation on
stand-by.
12. ARE YOU
COMFORTABLE
