Here’s a translation of yesterday’s post by Ana:
“… Is it that you, freedman of the north winds, don’t know what peace is?…”
—Francisco Matos PaoliPeace doesn’t exist:
If it’s not possible for all.
If it’s a “right” trampled by leftists, centrists and rightists possessed
by fanaticism, conformism and hate.
While there are children who die without experiencing it.
While we celebrate our “human” nature of attack and destruction as if
it’s innate, inescapable, equipped with good arguments
and historical precedents.
If world leaders stand silent before massacres, genocides and abuses.They’ve been slow to condemn what’s obvious for anyone who’s able to feel.
Spill no more innocent blood over Gaza!
I don’t know if Ana would call this a poem; her label call is it a pensamiento crítico, a “critical thought.”
Can poetry address a historical moment in the moment? (British poet Sean O’Brien has attempted it in the case of Israel’s attacks on Gaza—less than successfully, according to his comment stream.) And if not, why not?
Does the “long view” of poetry exclude the “immediate view”?
There’s a terrific example, Hermagoras. Here’s a <A HREF="http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/bsunday/kinsella.htm" REL="nofollow">link</A> to Kinsella’s poem for anyone who’s interested. And you’re right—it holds up well…
A possible example would be Thomas Kinsella’s "Butcher’s Dozen," which was written, printed, and distributed eight days after the publication of the Widgery Report exonerating the British forces for the Bloody Sunday massacre. Sold for 10 pence Irish and widely available throughout Dublin — you could get the pamphlet on newsstands, I believe — it certainly captured the moment. It may have
And it may well be that a poet may capture the moment, only to have that moment interpreted in historical terms that undercut the poet’s view of it. Can’t think of a good example, but in film, take <I>Birth of a Nation</I>. Only a few skinheads can see that film the way large numbers of people saw it when it was released….
I think it <I>can</I>, as is evident in Whitman’s civil war poems. But how many of Whitman’s contemporaries tried to capture the moment in the moments and have faded into nobodies? I wonder if it’s the universality of that moment or the poet’s place in the "canon" that affects a poem’s longevity. I also wonder if the polarized view of politics and issues across the globe minimizes the chance of a