Michael Poage's Blog, page 6

god won't overlook us (preface, 2001)

Over the years I have resisted writing “about” my poems – giving anything I believed would present some undeserved insight, or a short cut, to a full reading of the poems. I have been on guard for many years perhaps protecting myself more than the poems. Tonight, as I write this preface, I do so knowing that the poems will stand or fall on their own depending, in part, upon who is reading them and, in part, upon the voices emerging from the poems themselves. Even at 55 years old and with three previous books of poems published I have only recently, in the past three or four years, begun to accept myself as a writer. Why? Talk to my therapist, she is good. So good she won’t tell you a damn thing!

So I will write a few words about what the poems in god won’t overlook us mean to me. It all really centers on that title. First of all, it was a gift, what William Stafford might have called a “bonus of the world.” That is, I overheard the phrase from someone’s conversation, or a friend wrote it down in a note to me and didn’t mind me stealing it, or one of my kids sensing fear or innocence, or both, uttered something almost theological as we adults often do in our hasty prayers of petition in tight places. The poems are not prayers, they are gifts—received and returned. They are beautiful, sensual, sad, sexual, joyful, silly, horrible, dying to be heard and daring to be challenged. The poems mean, literally, the world to me because that is where they come from—my world, your world, the world around and inside. But I do not own them. Never have, never will.

Secondly, the small “g” in place of a capital “G” in “God” is intended to give myself, and hopefully others, permission to meet the holy on my own terms. The poems move in and around the world and the spirit or, as I would rather say, the spirit of the world. god is a part of that world/spirit but not as revenge or reward—more like revolution. Writing is a revolutionary act no matter what your politics. I know I am not the first one to say this but I do believe it. And I believe that god is in solidarity with the word, the gift, the passion, the art, the revolt signaled by the poem. Go ahead. Move out into the deep waters…god will not overlook us.
- February 13, 2001---late evening, Wichita, Kansas

god won’t overlook us

Over the years I have resisted writing “about” my poems – giving anything I believed would present some undeserved insight, or a short cut, to a full reading of the poems.  I have been on guard for many years perhaps protecting myself more than the poems.  Tonight, as I write this preface, I do so knowing that the poems will stand or fall on their own depending, in part, upon who is reading them and, in part, upon the voices emerging from the poems themselves.  Even at 55 years old and with three previous books of poems published I have only recently, in the past three or four years, begun to accept myself as a writer.  Why?  Talk to my therapist, she is good.  So good she won’t tell you a damn thing!

So I will write a few words about what the poems in god won’t overlook us mean to me.  It all really centers on that title.  First of all, it was a gift, what William Stafford might have called a “bonus of the world.”  That is, I overheard the phrase from someone’s conversation, or a friend wrote it down in a note to me and didn’t mind me stealing it, or one of my kids sensing fear or innocence, or both, uttered something almost theological as we adults often do in our hasty prayers of petition in tight places.  The poems are not prayers, they are gifts—received and returned.  They are beautiful, sensual, sad, sexual, joyful, silly, horrible, dying to be heard and daring to be challenged.  The poems mean, literally, the world to me because that is where they come from—my world, your world, the world around and inside.  But I do not own them.  Never have, never will.

Secondly, the small “g” in place of a capital “G” in “God” is intended to give myself, and hopefully others, permission to meet the holy on my own terms.  The poems move in and around the world and the spirit or, as I would rather say, the spirit of the world.  god is a part of that world/spirit but not as revenge or reward—more like revolution.  Writing is a revolutionary act no matter what your politics. I know I am not the first one to say this but I do believe it.  And I believe that god is in solidarity with the word, the gift, the passion, the art, the revolt signaled by the poem.  Go ahead.  Move out into the deep waters…god will not overlook us.

-  February 13, 2001—late evening, Wichita, Kansas

 

 

Peace of Wild Things......

I love this poem by Wendell Berry and today I just decided I would post it. I know that many people know the poem and I am connecting with you and with myself...

I come into the peace of wild things / who do not tax their lives with forethought / of grief. I come into the presence of still water. / And I feel above me the day-blind stars / waiting with their light. For a time / I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
 Wendell Berry

ENJOY MY BOOKS!!!!!!

What am I doing? I’m trying to sell the books of poetry I have written that have been published and, friends, it is easy to buy the books – especially VOICE OVER, published last March. Go to www.michaelpoage.com and click “Buy Books.” You and Paypal do the rest. Poetry is not a big seller in the U.S. but you can change that, at least slightly, but slightly is better than nothing. And spread the word. I am a GOODREADS author so go to www.goodreads.com, become a member and join me in “conversations” about my work and that of other writers. “The central fact of my life,” Borges wrote, “has been the existence of words and the possibility of weaving those words into poetry.” Thank you.

USS Liberty

What has happened to the investigation of the attack on the USS Liberty by
the state of Israel in 1967? Forty-six years ago, this June 8th, on a clear day
in international waters off the coast of Egypt, Israeli jet fighters and torpedo
boats savagely attacked the unarmed technical research ship without warning
or provocation. Thirty-four Americans were killed in action and 173 were
wounded. A report by former officials from the highest level of the military
and U.S. government stated that Israel "committed acts of murder against
American servicemen and an act of war against the United States" when it
deliberately attacked the USS Liberty in 1967. Former Secretary of State
Dean Rusk and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Thomas
Moorer condemned the deliberate aggression against the United States
by our "ally," the state of Israel. Israel says it was a "tragic accident," the evidence
says it was tragic, but not an accident. The U.S. continues to be Israel's "best
friend" while turning our backs on June 8, 1967. The U.S. continues to fund
Israel's military with blank checks. What happens, everyday, to the truth
of liberty?

NAKBA

Most of us reverently commemorate the Holocaust when millions of
European Jews and others suffered genocide and ethnic cleansing at
the hands of Hitler's Third Reich before and after World War II. Some of
us commemorate the genocide of two million Cambodians during the
brutal reign of Pol Pot. But most of us have been sold the myth of the
salvation of a dead and empty Palestine before and during the creation
of the State of Israel. Especially here in the U.S. money, politics and
unprecedented lobbying have transformed that myth into "historical
reality" which makes the denial of another genocide very simple. From
1947 - 1949, 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from a land
they worked and on which they raised families for centuries before the Zionist
occupiers violently claimed the so-called "promised land" as their own.
For sixty-five years that myth has been perpetuated at the expense of the truth.
That occupation continues as Israel attempts to starve Gaza into non-existence
and to push the Palestinian residents of the West Bank into the Jordan River.
So, on Wednesday, May 15, let us take one day to remember the nearly one million
Palestinians cleansed in the name of Biblical and political prophecy,
and the millions of Palestinians displaced around the
world. The Palestinians call this day, Al-Nakba: The Catastrophe.

GUN REGULATION

Regarding gun regulation: My understanding is that the 2nd amendment was ratified to preserve slavery. "Slave patrols" were armed and "well-regulated" by the states, with a booklet to help!! The 2nd amendment was in place to preserve the slave patrol militias in the southern states faced with many slave "rebellions." That amendment is USED now by the NRA and others in a completely false and self-serving way. There IS NO CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEE for every individual's right to own/carry a weapon, at least not in the 2nd amendment. (See, among others, "The Second Amendment was Ratified to Preserve Slavery," Thom Hartman, Truthout, January 15, 2013)

ON MARCH 19, 2003

On March 19, 2003, I flew from London to Sarajevo to begin a several day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. In my few previous days in London the very visible newspaper headlines shouted out the eminent attack on Iraq by the United States. “War Any Day!” “Decision Made to Attack Iraq!” “Bush Deadline Past!” I had worked for months in my small ways to show that a war against Iraq was a mistake and, in fact, illegal. But President Bush and, in many cases, the U.S. government never paid any attention to international law or the moral foundations for such laws. We have shown Israel the way to act unilaterally and with impunity toward the world community and the fellowship of nations. Self-interest, even when based on lies, turns out so often to BE the higher good. So that first night in Sarajevo I went to my hotel and, with the usual jet-lag that is always a constant companion on such travels, I fell asleep. And, as many of you might know, one of the companions of across-time-line-travels is the curse of waking up according to one’s own body clock. At four a.m. or so, I was wide awake and I knew I would not get back to sleep for a while so why try. I grabbed another international travel companion, the protein bar, and started to eat my early snack. I grabbed one of the too many books that I usually bring along as well on similar trips. I had forgotten the newspaper headlines back in London. However, with eyes not quite able to focus on the print of a book, I decided to turn on the television and see what was happening on Bosnian television – and it would have to be visual since I did not really know much of the Bosnian language. What I quickly found was the CNN International channel I English and, using the remote, I guided the screen to the English 24 hour news. I found myself viewing the first minutes of the horrible steps on the mission: Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was the bombing of Bagdad, the military power of the United States (or was it the “coalition of the willing”?) unleashed against a people who had faced so much loss, poverty, oppression, and death – all because of what some called “bad intelligence,” or “ poor leadership,” when actually it had been planned for years. This war, which was supposed to be over in a matter of weeks, was based on lies and was going to take place no matter what opposition seemed sensible and/or legal, or ethical, because Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and Mr. Rumsfeld, among others, lived for this war. It was the blood of their careers and it was hard-wired into their DNA. I don’t like to look back, stir up more conflict, and “cause more problems.” However, isn’t that the way the criminal justice system often works…we have to go back, investigate, find the criminal, have a trial, and punish appropriately those who have committed the crime? The Iraq war cost over $3 trillion, over 5,000 U.S. soldiers dead, many thousands with life-long physical and/or mental wounds, a million Iraqi’s dead, a country with a mall, and daily suicide bombings. So, where is the war crimes tribunal??? Can a private citizen bring “crimes against humanity” charges against specific individuals? I watched the explosions in bright passionate colors on CNN and heard the commentators trying to speak above the murderous noise. Finally, I muted the television, which left me to watch the screen flashing with death and devastation. And gradually, in the quiet of my Sarajevo hotel room, I began to hear the Muslim calls to prayer coming from the many mosques close to my hotel and around the city. I watched the muted violence as the U.S., my country, once again, launched a fiery and vicious attack on ancient, war-ravaged civilization. While I watched I listened to the call to prayer, an invitation to community, the many songs of the muzzeins across Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country still recovering from another devastating and brutal war. Could we take a quiet moment and listen to the song?

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ON MARCH 19, 2003

On March 19, 2003, I flew from London to Sarajevo to begin a several day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.  In my few previous days in London the very visible newspaper headlines shouted out the eminent attack on Iraq by the United States.  “War Any Day!”  “Decision Made to Attack Iraq!”  “Bush Deadline Past!”  I had worked for months in my small ways to show that a war against Iraq was a mistake and, in fact, illegal.  But President Bush and, in many cases, the U.S. government never paid any attention to international law or the moral foundations for such laws.  We have shown Israel the way to act unilaterally and with impunity toward the world community and the fellowship of nations.  Self-interest, even when based on lies, turns out so often to BE the higher good.  So that first night in Sarajevo I went to my hotel and, with the usual jet-lag that is always a constant companion on such travels, I fell asleep.  And, as many of you might know, one of the companions of across-time-line-travels is the curse of waking up according to one’s own body clock.  At four a.m. or so, I was wide awake and I knew I would not get back to sleep for a while so why try.  I grabbed another international travel companion, the protein bar, and started to eat my early snack.  I grabbed one of the too many books that I usually bring along as well on similar trips.  I had forgotten the newspaper headlines back in London.  However, with eyes not quite able to focus on the print of a book, I decided to turn on the television and see what was happening on Bosnian television – and it would have to be visual since I did not really know much of the Bosnian language.  What I quickly found was the CNN International channel I English and, using the remote, I guided the screen to the English 24 hour news.  I found myself viewing the first minutes of the horrible steps on the mission:  Operation Iraqi Freedom.  It was the bombing of Bagdad, the military power of the United States (or was it the “coalition of the willing”?) unleashed against a people who had faced so much loss, poverty, oppression, and death – all because of what some called “bad intelligence,” or “ poor leadership,” when actually it had been planned for years.  This war, which was supposed to be over in a matter of weeks, was based on lies and was going to take place no matter what opposition seemed sensible and/or legal, or ethical, because Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and Mr. Rumsfeld, among others, lived for this war.  It was the blood of their careers and it was hard-wired into their DNA.  I don’t like to look back, stir up more conflict, and “cause more problems.” However, isn’t that the way the criminal justice system often works…we have to go back, investigate, find the criminal, have a trial, and punish appropriately those who have committed the crime?  The Iraq war cost over $3 trillion, over 5,000 U.S. soldiers dead, many thousands with life-long physical and/or mental wounds, a million Iraqi’s dead, a country with a mall, and daily suicide bombings.  So, where is the war crimes tribunal???  Can a private citizen bring “crimes against humanity” charges against  specific individuals?  I watched the explosions in bright passionate colors on CNN and heard the commentators trying to speak above the murderous noise.  Finally, I muted the television, which left me to watch the screen flashing with death and devastation.  And gradually, in the quiet of my Sarajevo hotel room, I began to hear the Muslim calls to prayer coming from the many mosques close to my hotel and around the city.  I watched the muted violence as the U.S., my country, once again, launched a fiery and vicious attack on ancient, war-ravaged civilization.  While I watched I listened to the call to prayer, an invitation to community, the many songs of the muzzeins across Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country still recovering from another devastating and brutal war.  Could we take a quiet moment and listen to the song?

Latest News

“Considering the ways in which so many of us waste our time, what would be wrong with a world in which everybody were writing poems? After all, there’s a significant service to humanity in spending time doing no harm. While you’re writing your poem, there’s one less scoundrel in the world. And I’d like a world, wouldn’t you, in which people actually took time to think about what they were saying? It would be, I’m certain, a more peaceful, more reasonable place. I don’t think there could ever be too many poets. By writing poetry, even those poems that fail and fail miserably, we honor and affirm life. We say ‘We loved the earth but could not stay.”

― Ted Kooser, The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets