(in the aftermath of the Paris attacks aka another round of the Global War Of Terror, see: USA, Turtle Island, First Nations, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Palestine, Ukraine, ad nauseam) Because what they call passion actually is not some emotional energy, but just the friction between their souls and the outside world. ... Let them be helpless like children, because weakness is a great thing, and strength is nothing. - from Andrei Tarkovsky’s epic film Stalker 1 on quiet nights, if you listen carefully you might hear the white noise of the universe, not unlike the way a refrigerator sounds ’round midnight with the electric lights gone dark and it feels like all that’s left in the world is just you and the crackling air a deep continuous humming sound sung, perhaps, by angels, (like crickets) rubbing their wings together, or by angels and mothers weeping for all the lost children 2 they tested fear in a laboratory, made a rat tremble then patented that tremble then magnified it into explosives and propaganda and after the fear factory has pumped another dosage of fear into this bloodied but not bowed world, pumped another dosage into no longer Gay Paree, may the People take this helplessness and turn it not into another ruthless revenge perpetuating yet another round of trembling, perpetuating yet another round of ammunition that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were supposed to quench, perpetuating yet another bad hair-trigger day where even toddlers finger guns in a blunderbuss sanctioned world... but turn it into fingers trembling with the fear of softly touching another human’s face yet touching that face anyway, the feel of skin on skin a reminder of where we begin, remember how hands greeted you into this world? turn it into mighty weakness, turn it into humble strength, turn it into not more fears but ears that listen to the weepings of souls jettisoned into a night sky still faintly crackling with the noise of stars those shimmering light-beings still rubbing shoulders with the gods though science proclaimed them dead light years ago NOTES - The word “threnody” is probably from a root meaning: "to drone, murmur, hum” - “People are getting shot by toddlers on a weekly basis this year” Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is an essayist and resident poet on Axis of Logic. In addition to his work as a writer, he is a small press publisher and Turtle Islander. His recent book is “Drive-thru Theofascism & The Hero's Journey” and the newest is “Dear_______, poem-letters to friends and enemies.” You can contact him via his literary website. READ MORE POETRY AND ESSAYS BY MANKH ON AXIS OF LOGIC © Copyright 2015 by AxisofLogic.com This material is available for republication as long as reprints include verbatim copy of the article in its entirety, respecting its integrity. Reprints must cite the author and Axis of Logic as the original source including a "live link" to the article. Thank you! |