What do poetry and anarchy have in common?

I am an anarchist. Perhaps most poetic people are by nature anarchists. There is a quality both dissident and idealistic about anarchism, something both faithful and faithless in human nature, that can be felt in poetry.

I am not speaking of the aggressive, flag-burning, punk-rocker variety that has given anarchism its violent, irresponsible stigma. I am speaking of a sort of utopian libertarian socialism - a peaceful, non-violent system of human beings who operate together, not as the unwilling servants of an imposed hierarchical system, but on an equal plane, through solidarity and initiative.

This belief, that human beings do not need an external political body to govern their lives, and can live side by side without interference from above, proclaims faith not in the state, but in people. Anarchism maintains that individuals, when not manipulated by some higher authority, are innately good. People always try to convince me of the hypderidealism of this vision - exactly what has been said about poetry, too.

Anarchists and poets occupy two sides of the same coin: while active anarchists are political creatures, focusing their energies on the external world, poets are artists who map out the ungoverned internal world.

Perhaps it is characteristic of those with a "poetic temperament" to feel uncomfortable with the notion of power. I myself am wary around people of authority because I am aware that they are liable to abuse it.

Artificial and ultimately destructive, power manipulates human relationships by altering our natural means of relating to one another. It alienates us from ourselves, strips us of our natural tendencies toward self-realization and meaningful relationships which manifest themselves through poetry. But we seem to subsist through power, believing, perhaps unconsciously, that government gives us structure and purpose in life, that without it, we are nothing, helpless - primitive and savage. Perhaps we are afraid of how we will be and what we will do without someone else to shape and dictate our behavior. We avoid the frightening, naked experience of self.

Relying on the governance of others forces us to relinquish the privilege of following our own instincts. Anarchism will only ever be possible when we become self-aware. And what encourages self-awareness if not poetry? Poetry is by nature introspective, leading us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and to a greater faith in self-authority. Poetry is also innately anarchistic.

But an anarchistic world is, of course, impossible. We are too untrusting of introspection to live in a world where the self governs itself. We are still afraid of poetry and its implications, of its invitation to social awareness and self-knowledge. But the consciousness which poetry offers is the key ingredient to an anarchistic world.

Perhaps anarchy, like poetry, is merely a dream. Perhaps poetry reveals the dream of anarchy, the impossible ideal of an awakened world where human beings are both truly free and truly connected, without authority, where our relationships to ourselves and to others are unadulterated and authentic.

Anarchy and poetry inspire change. They inspire rebellion, consciousness, and a genuine faith in humanity. Mexican poet Octavio Paz once affirmed their union by saying that, like anarchy, "poetry invites us to rebellion, to live our dreams awake: to be no longer the dreamers, but the dream itself."

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I dig poetry. It can be a

I dig poetry. It can be a very different way of illustrating the world and its components, give voice to crazy desires that reach far beyond contrived boundaries. Like visual art, poetry is at its best when it shows and hides and dances around new perspectives to ponder. To find for yourself, to draw out your own imagination and creativity. From there, perhaps, we may find our own inspiration buried inside to create a new world of our own choosing.

But, there is nothing inherently anarchistic about poetry or poets. This is a completely absurd notion and a self-serving one at that.

There is a whole growing lot ofnothing that claims itself as anarchist these days. Anarchy is rather hip, really.

So we move from the perceived negative - bomb thrower and assasinator to "the aggressive, flag-burning, punk-rocker variety that has given anarchism its violent, irresponsible stigma" - to the gentle soul, the peaceful sweetheart, the darling of everyone who loves Freedom.

Is it a particularly American manifestation of conformity, of uniformity that accounts for the pathetic dullness that dominates anarchist rhetoric here? Where the - now repetitive - poetic attempts of the crimethincers are lauded as amazing and so inspiring they herald a new formula?

BAH

"this poet" agrees with you

"this poet" agrees with you as well (damn i wish i could find some of my better shit!). anyway whatever happened to the notion that, you know, people are complex and gentleness and agression are two facets of the ways people appraoch all sorts of different things (and also enough of genedering these things, not that i have seen it done here but i have seen it done enough...this just perpetuates stereotypes about the sex's based on how we have been conditioned). when will we quit with the iconic images of morality already?

-lord rambler

this poet says fuck you ....

this poet says fuck you ....

GO AWAY TROLL!!!!!!!!

GO AWAY TROLL!!!!!!!!

oh come on: fuck you? that's

oh come on: fuck you? that's hardly poetic!

you could have done a haiku:

fuck you asshole you shit
fingers hit key board nothing to say
fuck you you shit fuck

-lord rambler

Your honor since i've been

Your honor
since i've been convicted of murder
and have taken time to digest
just what that means
after noting what it means to my family
and how it affects people who read the newspapers
and all
i see now that i've made a terrible mistake!
and didn't approach this trial
in a respectful, deliberate or thoughtful manner
didn't take advantage of the best legal advice
and based my actions on irrelevant matters
which i can see now in a much more sober mind
had nothing to do with this case
i must have been legally insane thinking about:
the twenty five murders of children in atlanta since
Wayne Williams' capture
the recent murder of a man in boston by the police
the recent murders of two in chicago by police
the shooting of a five-year-old little boy in suburban calif
the lynchings in alabama
the mob murder of a transit worker in brooklyn
the murders of fourteen women in boston
feeling that this is evidence of something
and that there must
be a lesson in all this - i thought
murder was legal. -Kuwasi Balagoon

-Eyedea

THAT'S FUCKING

THAT'S FUCKING POETRY!!!!

-Eyedea

"Without the cold and

"Without the cold and desolation of winter there could not be the warmth and splendor of spring!! Calamity has hardened my mind, and turned it to steel! All Power To The People"

there's some more revolutionary poetry for ya!!

-Eyedea

okay here's one of my own,

okay here's one of my own, its called "death is all around":

a house is itself a room
in a bigger building
named neighborhood
neatly ordered and constructed
grass cut to the half inch
fed chemicals
to stave off
wild
often edible
first growth
as well as plants that heal
you call them weeds
neatly parked cars
neatly built streets
freshly smashed beasts
we live in the shit
from the digestive process
of consumption of earth

-lord rambler

I like it.

I like it.

You should check out

You should check out "Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott,
it's definitely one of my favorites. The audio version is even better!

-Eyedea

I will check that out.

I will check that out.

thanks. i sent three more

thanks. i sent three more in one post but i guess the post must have been too long or something because i saw something about waiting for moderator approval. it was hard to decide between those three and i didn't feel like holding a poetry spam per say so i'll need to wait and see.

-lord rambler

Go to the homepage and click

Go to the homepage and click on the "5 arrested in RNC Protest" article, then scroll down and check out the comment under my first 2. I THINK ITS TIME FOR AN ANTI-POLITICAL DEBATE/CRITIQUE (unless he left the site already).

-Eyedea

Of course they might have

Of course they might have been a She.

-Eyedea

already did but thanks. i'll

already did but thanks. i'll probably be retiring myself soon, i am getting sleepy, very, very, sleepy.

-lord rambler

Do you support yourself? or

Do you support yourself? or depend on organizations that take the money from Proletariats such as theNational Endowment for the Arts? Or do you just live in your parent's basement?

WHO are you talking to? this

WHO are you talking to? this article is about poetry. no one's talking about "supporting ourselves" and "living in our parents basement".

-eyedea

Oh yeah, speaking of

Oh yeah, speaking of crimethinc, (i read BAH's comment) who are they?
I mean, i've been to their site and they romanticize about anarchism (lifestylists perhaps?). I've never even heard of a crimethinc collective participating in any kind of protest or community organizing. What, did someone just make it up so would-be anarchists would turn to starry eyed dreams about some fantasy utopian "revolution". I also found one of their books, (Anarchist Cookbook a field manual to resistance, or something like that) and some of the "stories" in it were okay, but come on, DUMPSTER DIVING for food! Now i'm not trying to insult anyone who HAS to dumpster dive to survive, but doing it in your leisure time, in some kind of ridiculous "rebellion" against consumerism, its kind of stupid. Fuck lifestylists!! Once again, someone puts ideological purity (fuck anarchist purists!) before Method.

-eyedea

But, he's glorifying

But, he's glorifying anarchy. I am fine with him expressing himself as long as he doesn't accept public funds to subsidize his Artistic Lifestyle.

he is a fucking joke ....

he is a fucking joke .... damn people talking about anarchy then writing poetry insead of smashing what is left of this country ... fuck 'em.

At least he is trying to

At least he is trying to contribute rather than destroy. Maybe you should change out of your jammies, emerge from your parent's basement and get a job. You will feel better once you become independent. You have no idea what true oppression is, I have friends from the former Soviet Union and they laugh at these websites!

well i'm scared ....lol this

well i'm scared ....lol this is a fucking joke for sure.

Huh?

Huh?

A joke, huh? Maybe YOU

A joke, huh? Maybe YOU should tell a joke TROLL, I would love to hear it!

I think you lack the

I think you lack the vocabulary and intellectual skills to understand my humor.

Hey Loser - if the violent

Hey Loser - if the violent irresponsibility of all us anarchists makes you break out in Hives then please feel free to just fuck the hell off. Maybe you're a poet like Neruda you flaming arsehole!
Get the fuck out of here you fucking loser.

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