4.1.07

reflection on a stubbed toe

mentally, i am starting to identify myself as a poet. following most every interaction that takes place these days, every stimulus, every contact, every conversation I have, i find myself asking how to translate that poetically, whether it would make a good poem, what I can extrapolate from the interaction that might make a good poem. i stubbed my toe on my doorway today, and my initial reaction wasn’t a ‘FUCK!’ or any other sort of expletive – it was a ‘can I make this into a good poem?’ i shit you not, that’s what went through my head. imagine that, poetry replacing hurt, doing literally what it’s done literarily for years. something else, eh?

also, dems took control of the house today, and nancy’s first action was to call the prez and let him know they were up and running, a thinly veiled middle-finger stuck straight up his righteous ass. let’s hope this marks the start of a much-needed return for rationality. and apparently, this nation could use a hearty dose of rationality:

"wait, were we even in the vietnam war?"

and check out the end, when people supported a war on a country that didn't even exist, because bush supported it.

2.1.07

great morning!

Well, I started submitting for the first time in my life today. I sent some poems to remark., and within an hour, I got an email of acceptance! My first poems in print ever, “dinner for one” and a reworked version of an old poem, "hallelujah" will be in the March issue. I’m feeling really great about this, I feel like it’s the beginning of something that will continue for the next 50+ years of my life. What a great start to the new year! You couldn’t take my smile off with a crowbar.

31.12.06

on joining the world of the bloggers, the philosophers, the bored

So, the one with boobs works for this church mailing letters for a pretty good salary. Recently, the minister/pastor/whatever of the church, (Wesley Smith, send him your thoughts here) has been mailing out these letters calling for the removal of all Arabs from the USA, since they are “simply put, not a safe breed”. The one with boobs managed to get me a copy to peruse I’ve started writing a response to it, but here’s a brief excerpt. Here’s quote from his ten-page Mein Kampf. Please note the scholarly use of statistics and quotations.

“Probably ten to fifteen percent of Muslims are terrorists. That translates into more than the population of the United States of America – 300 million! These figures are terrifying! Absolutely terrifying! Someone has said, ‘Remaining silent means that you agree with what is being done.’ In the last few years more than 7,000 bomb attacks have ripped apart human bodies and buildings. “Islamic extremists” have perpetuated all of these horrendous acts. They are intent on sending their message of terror deep into the hearts of everyone. Have you ever wondered why the “peaceful Muslims: do not speak out about this? Consider: What if Jewish extremists had blown up tens of thousands of innocent people? Or what if Christian extremists had done the same thing? Wouldn’t there be an angry outcry from the Jews and Christians against these madmen? Wouldn’t rabbis and pastors be on national television denouncing the terrorists? Wouldn’t the pastors and rabbis be explaining to everyone that this behavior is not representative of Judaism and Christianity? Absolutely!”

Kav’s Response: You ask what would happen if Christian extremists had done the same thing. Consider, if you will, our nation’s leader, who believes in his own divine appointment. Said leader has directly caused the death of 100,000 to 150,000 innocent Iraqi civilians (according to the United Nations) over the course of our current war. Said leader has also imposed stringent sanctions, which, since the start of the war, have caused a conservatively estimated 2,000 civilian deaths a quarter (according to Amnesty International, Unicef, and UN reports). Doing the math, this number becomes a conservative 150,000 to 200,000 innocent civilian deaths directly caused by our elected Christian on-a-mission-from-God demagogue. Yet, I haven’t heard any Christians on the television publicly denouncing these actions, nor have I heard any explaining that his actions are not representative of his faith. (Note: Did you notice how much more effective the use of statistics was here, when I actually cite sources? Your method of random quantification of your beliefs with numbers - numbers you presumably made up - would earn you a solid F in any seventh grade English class.)

In other news, I just read Mark Wisniewski’s new chap, “One of Us One Night”, it was absolutely brilliant. I encourage anyone and everyone to pick it up. Merry New Year’s everybody!

-kaveh