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[HaroHalola]

Dere's a boat
on da ribb'r, mebbe
wit an Ir'shm'n 'board;

Dey sailin'
toad Etern'ty!

Mebbe da Missi'ppi
he run deep'r
dan da Shannon o' MeCong?

Ain' no mebbe 'bout I', les'
ahm miscalculatin'...

Ain' no matt'r, tho'
We'un wha' all know...
See, dis heah boat, she
gotta sail Us on Home, tho'
not on'y outa' da floods an' reigns
("Oh, the Humanity!")
o' inhuman'ty...!

Well, an' no matt'r, cuz
'cause "...ain't no Life, nowhere!," like
Jimi, he sad, say, but...
Sail y'on up dat Tas, Rhine ta dat Rott'rdam,
hoist'd high an' high'r, damn'd the portedoes!...

'Cause firs' thin ah wanna see
an' heere outa' yo' in-auguratin'
Uncl' Tom, an' Pip'd Hamlin mouts,
It be like dat squinty, Clinty guy
givin' them hucksters a fittin' nadir
(like Strange Fruit)
markin' twain,
an' no
Vague Hague!
                                     
                                      H.e.m.
                                      6.22.MMviii.

[theirishsea]

I love the way you create words and your own speech.

I follow the first part of this. I get the political allusions at the end----though this calls out---to me---some close reading and analysis.

I'm lost in the transition from the beginning to the end.


I may be misinterpreting this but I will venture it & I disagree---Obama is not an Uncle Tom. I believe he is sincere and America's best hope.  You may be saying that racial tensions may be heightened---it seems like after Obama is inaugarated (sp?). If that is what you are saying I hope you are wrong. Obama won't convert fanatics on either side but he will try to bring America together, especially after the Bush years.

I'm probably doing too much interpreting in one segment of the poem---and maybe you are not saying that at all. "a fittin nadir"----a reference to Ralph Nader & anti-corporatism? as well as a bottoming out. Your words have so much going on. I'm not enlightened on this poem. I will give you a good karma for the way you stretch language in your own personal idiom.

I have to rethink this poem. I hear your voice, your diction as good as ever. I'll wait and see what others say. Light Haven did a good job discussing one of your other poems.

[emel]

I actually got through this one almost understanding the words all the way down... Wooohooo That's an accomplishment for me.  Fell off there a little at the end and, of course I absent any of the deeper meaning but I'm tryin' Haro, I'm tryin"

[HaroHalola]

i]T.I.S.[/i] - Hello, my friend; TY for the props.  There's much to chew-on from your observations/Words in regard to my observations/Words; this said (LOL), perhaps I shall reserve comment (as alluded) 'til we see what the cohorts - & poss. not-so-corts - in-chime?  But from the jump allow me to state unequivocally, if It ain't (& my Poem "Take Debait '08..." quite clearly alluderate) Nader/Gore/Gore Vidal/Kucinich/Kinky Friedman/Arundati Roy/Amy Goodman/Dr. Helen Caldicott/Naomi Klein/Robert Byrd/Howard Zinn/Noam Chomsky/Alice Walker/Ayaan Hirsi Ali/R.F.K. Jr./MLK/Gandhi/Jimi Hendrix/Bono/Sting/James Baldwin/S. Sarandan & Co./Lillian Hellman/Carlin/Emerson/Thoreau/Randall Robinson, and LENNY BRUCE...  We jus' be shuckin' corn!  (And TY, emel) -   H'H./H.e.m.

[HaroHalola]

As per the above, I believe (possibly) some "Entity" don't want dis too eas'ly Red?  My apologies...   H'H./H.e.m.

[Light Haven]

I don't get it. Why were names like Naomi Kline and Noam Chomsky scratched out, and the others, and who was the entity. Who is the entity?

[HaroHalola]

LH - If you attend to the reasoning (perhaps unclear/though not totally obfuscating) of the follow-up Reply, the scratch-outs (not remotely those ever-suckering Game Cards?) were beyond the most concerted of my (& another's) efforts to corruscate; ergo, some external Force (Beware the Entity!) into the Play.  For a list of the characters, ref: Illuminati; Shining The Light; Urantia, & stay tuned (if you dare) for Act II -   H'H./H.e.m.

[Light Haven]

Haro,
I agree that Obama provides the illusion of change and that it is business as usual. Increased military spending is already planned and even the Obama line is pretty much business as usual. He and Hillary agree on almost everything. So no need for censorship. Most people have not read Chomsky other than for perhaps an essay here and there. If they are in the NPR fog their minds will go into shock if they ever start to consider what Chomsky is saying. These are just splinter groups (nevertheless describing the situation more accurately than anyone else) with little or no media access and it is kept that way. Google Chomsky and he is still in the top four or five  most quoted in the world but I have never seen him on any major media channel sitting next to one of the official voices of democracy, a talking head, a commentator, or an attack dog. If you go to Znet, the clearing house for many of the modern writers you name, there are articles read by the part of the country that sees the shell game being played out, but again you have the attack dog critics on television just keeping the illusion in place and the rest of the dreamers "liberals" and
"conservatives" watching the show are along for the ride. The distribution for the Nation magazine is about 100,000. Compare that with the 300,000,000 population and things stay the same. However, it is perceived by the "entity" to be a good idea to let those who I consider to be awake to vent. It is a practical solution to the dissenting voices.

[folkpoet]

Sometimes, I do not understand parts of your poems.....but understand them or not.....love em! You are unique! I also love the way you make up your own words! You could probably confuse Webster...LOL

[Light Haven]

I'm converted. I'm a fan.

[HaroHalola]

LH, folkpoet - TY; your attentions to my Work, absorbed & acknowledging.  We, as a Nation (albeit purloined, as I have never waivered-from - [http://poetryinbaltimore.com/smf/index.php?topic=10271.msg10271#msg10271] ) are in extreme direness.  I contend the only solution (unless One subscribes to the venerable Dr. Paul Erlich), if lies the remotest of possibilities, is for Planet Morlde to morph, continue morphing 'til...  I do not hold much optimism (nor did Jor-el before launching Baby Kal-el from an imploding/exploding Krypton; you've Read my "Eskatune").  So hug & Love the Ones you're with (or find One, or several), 'cause 2012 is a comin'.  Btw, at times, more frequently than appreciated, Webster (& Roget) have posed some problems; I will continue in attempt to Younique , "Saying things in an unprecedented manner."  Pray, let the conversion perpetuate, I fan the calefaction -   H'H./H.e.m.