To DM, SH, and others it may concern: This is a complex
poem whose socio-political implications deserve deciphering
____________________________________________
* What the murmur is singing is that the capitalist system,
based as it is on individualism and individual greed, separating
human beings stinks.**
**Note to people who have difficulty laughing at themselves:
the above note explains nothing and is a JOKE. You may well
ask: What sociopolitical implications? It is clear that the
poem doesn’t have any. Ideology and art don’t mix.***
***In some schools, jokes are not allowed in poems. And the
poet must be very polite, politer than this one, who ends her
poem as if to say: get fucked or get your ass kicked. What
business is it of hers to adopt this superior tone, appropriate
for a seasoned politician, not for a respected artist?****
****However, please remember it is the murmur who is
singing this. The poet is only an observer, a private
individual, and the murmur is an act of the imagination.
p.79. _______
Republished with the permission of the author. Thanks, Erin.
PLEASE NOTE: This is the third page of a three page poem called “SONG OF A MURMUR”
published in Sheepish Beauty and Civilian Love (1992 Vehicule Press) that
turniped when my books and records were being packed so they could be moved
out of the way of new flooring installation. (While I’m on tour! Yay@!)