I have become open to the future only because my heart has become one with the heart of another of like heart. And together we are invulnerable to the constant stream of propaganda, lies and false flags. Love is the only answer to the hatred that wants to swallow us all.
The seeds sown by our proclaimed civilisation have lain in the ground for generations.
For centuries they have been fertilised by blood and death in a monsoon of destruction that seems to see no end.
Those who are described as the “elite” have watched from the comfort of their cosseted lives with smug satisfaction.
But, in the dark unseen by incurious eyes, the tiny tendrils of root and shoot are stirring. Even as the mighty West lectures the rest of the world about morality,ethics and the rights of humans their portraits concealed in the shadows of lofts and cellars reveal the corruption and filth at the heart of empire.
It has taken a genocide to part the clouds and bring the blazing light of righteousness to warm the cold,hard ground but bring it it has.
Those who have done this,those who have cheered it on,those who have turned aside and vilified each and every one of us who have,for all our faults, given of our very best in our efforts to stop this horror believe that when it ends and it will end,the world will carry on as if nothing has changed. The status quo,they think, will be restored.
The seeds don’t think, they silently grow and one day in the not too distant future they will blossom and flourish and then the world will tremble as it reaps their bitter harvest.
I am not so confident about the future, perhaps because I am old enough not to have much of a future left. The depth of depravity of Israelis and the world leaders who are their accomplices has been stunning despite my long cynicism about anything associated with capitalism. I've been very, very lucky, living in the relative comfort of middle-class Canada but that too is collapsing as our "new" government begins to introduce American style suppression laws (Bill C-2) and increase spending on the police and military. While young people give me hope, I am not sure they can outlast the Naziism and climate catastrophe that my generation and the generation following mine are imposing on the world. Nonetheless, we must continue to rail against the machine! Thanks Caitlin.
Once entrenched interests make a system unreformable (because they block any reforms that touch their slice of the pie), the only answer is to Burn It All Down.
Nice poem; but it advocates taking far too passive a stance instead of organizing a political party capable of leading an organized and successful revolution like the Bolsheviks did in 1917, where even the US Ambassador was impressed with how orderly the streets of St. Petersburg were, being patrolled by disciplined soldiers and Workers Defense Guards organized by the Bolsheviks through the trade unions - as opposed to a chaotic mess like the breakdown of the Quaddafi government in Libya - or the lumpenproletarian mobs in Los Angeles rampaging through the city, looting stores, burning Waymos and acting like agents provocateurs, provoking a bloody attack by the National Guard (directed by the "greater evil" Trump administration) and/or by the murderous LAPD, (directed by the "lesser evil" Democrats). All the capitalist class needs for us to do so they can remain in power is to sit back and wait to see what happens! The capitalist class has PLANS for dealing with unruly mobs of righteously angry youth and workers: very bloody plans! The working class needs leaders with effective counterplans, not idiot "leaders" running around "leading" unarmed youth into a slaughter pen!
Dump All Pro-Capitalist Parties! Build a Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party and Fight For a Socialist Future - because *there is no future for the working class under the capitalist system!*
Years ago, we chanced upon a street party the night before the Rose Parade, in Pasadena, CA.
Seems that the night before the big parade people camp out on the sidewalks to reserve the best viewing spots for the parade. It was like one big long picnic ground. The same scene you would find on Sunday at the park.
September 11th hadn't happened, so perhaps people have changed by now; but, it was a generally well behaved crowd.
Then something happened.
A parade float was arriving late (from Kansas? I don't know) and the police arrived to clear a street intersection of people.
I don't think the policemen did anything terribly wrong, but their take-charge, arrogant attitude
was incongruous with the existing Sunday-at-the-park ambiance.
Maybe the police just presented a target.
At any rate people started getting rowdy and pushing back against authority.
It didn't get ugly, probably because it was over as soon as the late arriving float passed through.
My point being...you know what my point is...some might express it as, "Trump is pouring gasoline onto the LA situation."
ps.
If you happen to be tourists in Pasadena someday, reserve a day for the Huntington Botanical Gardens and Library.
All I could write about the movable beast factor in the Homo species in the past, present and future is iconoclastic, sarcastic and nihilistic. So I won't. But "The Hollow Men" (and women, I would add, to make sure) is quite a prophetic poem by T. S. Eliot who must have felt as dejected in the interwar years of the 20th cent. as some of us are today.
Backs pressed to the wall, desperation hugging undying hope, open hearts...these are the fuel for the great revolutions within and without. May justice prevail.
I have become open to the future only because my heart has become one with the heart of another of like heart. And together we are invulnerable to the constant stream of propaganda, lies and false flags. Love is the only answer to the hatred that wants to swallow us all.
Fuckin’ aye Vin. A deep personal connection is the only way to survive this turmoil.
And to the oppressors: BRING IT ON! You can’t dish out NUTHIN we can’t take!
Ah yes, invulnerability is a collective phenomenon -- this is the way it works for us truly complex systems, eh, gyp dear?
Why yes it is Vin.
And we ARE invulnerable!
The seeds sown by our proclaimed civilisation have lain in the ground for generations.
For centuries they have been fertilised by blood and death in a monsoon of destruction that seems to see no end.
Those who are described as the “elite” have watched from the comfort of their cosseted lives with smug satisfaction.
But, in the dark unseen by incurious eyes, the tiny tendrils of root and shoot are stirring. Even as the mighty West lectures the rest of the world about morality,ethics and the rights of humans their portraits concealed in the shadows of lofts and cellars reveal the corruption and filth at the heart of empire.
It has taken a genocide to part the clouds and bring the blazing light of righteousness to warm the cold,hard ground but bring it it has.
Those who have done this,those who have cheered it on,those who have turned aside and vilified each and every one of us who have,for all our faults, given of our very best in our efforts to stop this horror believe that when it ends and it will end,the world will carry on as if nothing has changed. The status quo,they think, will be restored.
The seeds don’t think, they silently grow and one day in the not too distant future they will blossom and flourish and then the world will tremble as it reaps their bitter harvest.
I am not so confident about the future, perhaps because I am old enough not to have much of a future left. The depth of depravity of Israelis and the world leaders who are their accomplices has been stunning despite my long cynicism about anything associated with capitalism. I've been very, very lucky, living in the relative comfort of middle-class Canada but that too is collapsing as our "new" government begins to introduce American style suppression laws (Bill C-2) and increase spending on the police and military. While young people give me hope, I am not sure they can outlast the Naziism and climate catastrophe that my generation and the generation following mine are imposing on the world. Nonetheless, we must continue to rail against the machine! Thanks Caitlin.
Very good and thought provoking, Caitlin.
Once entrenched interests make a system unreformable (because they block any reforms that touch their slice of the pie), the only answer is to Burn It All Down.
Powerful writing as always- thank you for your unceasing efforts to raise awareness and awaken humanity to the need for profound change.
I don't know what is to come, but right now 1984 has all the momentum.
Imagine: John Lennon
I hope I never hear that insipid tune ever again.
As a rideshare driver, I take certain pleasure in watching Waymo's burn.
Nice poem; but it advocates taking far too passive a stance instead of organizing a political party capable of leading an organized and successful revolution like the Bolsheviks did in 1917, where even the US Ambassador was impressed with how orderly the streets of St. Petersburg were, being patrolled by disciplined soldiers and Workers Defense Guards organized by the Bolsheviks through the trade unions - as opposed to a chaotic mess like the breakdown of the Quaddafi government in Libya - or the lumpenproletarian mobs in Los Angeles rampaging through the city, looting stores, burning Waymos and acting like agents provocateurs, provoking a bloody attack by the National Guard (directed by the "greater evil" Trump administration) and/or by the murderous LAPD, (directed by the "lesser evil" Democrats). All the capitalist class needs for us to do so they can remain in power is to sit back and wait to see what happens! The capitalist class has PLANS for dealing with unruly mobs of righteously angry youth and workers: very bloody plans! The working class needs leaders with effective counterplans, not idiot "leaders" running around "leading" unarmed youth into a slaughter pen!
Dump All Pro-Capitalist Parties! Build a Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party and Fight For a Socialist Future - because *there is no future for the working class under the capitalist system!*
We’ll see what emerges from the ashes. But the ashes will come first.
Beautiful! Thanks, Caitlin. I particularly love these lines:
"While keffiyeh-clad heroes march to Gaza
While secret saints work secret miracles in the margins
While a sleeping giant stirs within our depths
While the flames dance in Buddha’s eyes
While my peacock feather heart opens like a fuchsia bud
While the tears roll down my cheeks for the dead and the dying"
Years ago, we chanced upon a street party the night before the Rose Parade, in Pasadena, CA.
Seems that the night before the big parade people camp out on the sidewalks to reserve the best viewing spots for the parade. It was like one big long picnic ground. The same scene you would find on Sunday at the park.
September 11th hadn't happened, so perhaps people have changed by now; but, it was a generally well behaved crowd.
Then something happened.
A parade float was arriving late (from Kansas? I don't know) and the police arrived to clear a street intersection of people.
I don't think the policemen did anything terribly wrong, but their take-charge, arrogant attitude
was incongruous with the existing Sunday-at-the-park ambiance.
Maybe the police just presented a target.
At any rate people started getting rowdy and pushing back against authority.
It didn't get ugly, probably because it was over as soon as the late arriving float passed through.
My point being...you know what my point is...some might express it as, "Trump is pouring gasoline onto the LA situation."
ps.
If you happen to be tourists in Pasadena someday, reserve a day for the Huntington Botanical Gardens and Library.
"While people with nothing to lose sharpen guillotine blades"
I think a lot of us are getting out our DIY guillotine kits and readying the blades. It's time for them to be put to good use.
Great poem.
All I could write about the movable beast factor in the Homo species in the past, present and future is iconoclastic, sarcastic and nihilistic. So I won't. But "The Hollow Men" (and women, I would add, to make sure) is quite a prophetic poem by T. S. Eliot who must have felt as dejected in the interwar years of the 20th cent. as some of us are today.
Those two almost infamous lines alone say a whole lot:
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
Backs pressed to the wall, desperation hugging undying hope, open hearts...these are the fuel for the great revolutions within and without. May justice prevail.