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Beyond Our Grasp
“I abhor the idea of a perfect world. It would bore
me to tears.”--Shelby Foote.
Too often
I have felt lost
in a Dali painting; bizarre, macabre,
where elephants are thirty feet tall,
clocks are flat as fried eggs,
where Medusa pushes Venus
off the clam shell,
or a naked shepherd in a Titian
painting chained to two pillars.
on my right, Utopia,
on my left, Dystopia.
In 74 AD,
Spartacus took his 10,000 slave
army to the toe of Italy,
and aspired to create
a Utopian dream
he called the Sun City.
There would be no masters.
Every man would be equal,
but when the victory celebrations
were over, with hangovers
intact, they tried to set up a
municipality, with rules & laws,
commerce & trade,
a justice system,
complete with a constabulary.
Per usual, some rose to the top,
and became leaders, while
most did not; they soon began
to complain, stating that they were
better were off remaining
Roman slaves.
People deserted
in clots of a hundred, which
became flocks of thousands.
When the population
had sufficiently thinned,
they were attacked
by three Roman legions.
After their defeat,
all the survivors were crucified,
hanging on thousands of crosses
along the Appian Way.
The Communist Manifesto
sounded great on paper,
but over the last century,
every country that tried
to implement the shining theories
of brotherhood and perfect equality
has failed miserably;
their failures were brought on by
commerce and capitalism,
imperialism and war,
even just human nature, itself--
these things intervened, driving a wedge
of rampaging egos, privilege, & inequity
straight into that dream of a perfect society,
soon degenerating into empty words and
broken promises.
History tends to be cyclic, a closed system, a
Gordian Knot, an infinite loop, wherein our
foolish orbit has taken us to the dark side of
the moon where stygian darkness seems
all encompassing.
I fear that the “New World”, as America was once
called, degenerates into a biased replica of the
“Old World”, after the newness rubs off, and the
honeymoon is over.
It’s up to the youth now. I’m too old to march, to build,
and fight with them for a better world, but I still can
cheer them on.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub
10 comments:
I enjoy your political poems, Glenn. I hope the youngsters wake up and realize the mess they are dealing with is unacceptable. I went to a rally/march tonight and was heartened by the enthusiasm of those assembled. Most were older like me but there were a few youngsters there as well.
Nothing remains new forever. Even Australia which is a bit younger than the US was once the new world. As someone once said, when we are in older age, we are more spectators than participants and perhaps that is a skill we are called to learn. I liked your poem.
The opening stanza is so surreal, Glenn, it sparked my imagination, so I was surprised by the description of the Utopias envisioned by people of the past, where everyone is equal. And then the reality kicked in – and the horror! I don’t think humans have the ability to change, there is so much greed and power-hunger. I like the image of history as a Gordian Knot.
I think you have to add into the reasons for failure the deliberate spanner in the works cast by rival systems from the Roman to the American Empires. Sometimes you can't just blame the ideas being wrong.
It was an unfortunate ending for Spartacus. Hopefully we can avoid the worst of both the utopias and dystopias.
I really like this. History as a Gordian knot -- that is a great metaphor.
I am always still shocked at how humans can hurt others and not feel horrible about it. It's beyond my comprehension of what anyone who was even slightly nurtured would act or feel. The history you so vividly present in your poem truly has repeated. To evolve as a society, world, any organized group, we have to individually have empathy. I guess as an early childhood educator, I just can't fathom how many under nourished souls exist in this world. It's so sad.
I think there is nothing new any longer... but somewhere in the youth there is always hope.. and they are many many.
Lots of failures on the way... but sometimes we have to look for all the things that actually is better too.
I enjoyed your account of the failure of socialism-so true. A better world is what we’re after. May it be so🙏🏽
“Rampaging egos” - there’s the problem right in front of us. Excellent poem Glenn. I’m handing the heavy work over to the kids now also.
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