A Religious Blog

1.

In North Korea the beloved leader shot a 19 on the country’s first gold course…somebody wanted to make him look not-too-perfect but “human all too human” and had him take a two on one hole.

17 hole-in- ones on an 18 hole golf course is pretty good

beating the existing record by over twenty strokes and

is in fact accomplishing a feat which defies even common sense…

but no other north korean has played golf so they don’t know

2.

“if you don’t learn from your mistakes you tend to repeat them…

as if the situation will ever repeat itself…

but we bring our past ideas forward…

usually in the negative…

if one mechanic rips me off all mechanics are crooks…

if one treats me fairly then he is an exception…

3.

belying my critical nature

as relationships go one

i exaggerate faults

on both sides of a “partnership”

which is another word

hijacked by the rabid right

4.

I excel in this society because of the cards i was dealt…if sitting writing on a sunny afternoon in a forest, on a hill over looking a mountain can be deemed excelling

5.

i only have to pretend capitalism works…and it does…

5.24

environmental degradation has begun in earnest,

5.26

countries in the middle east are demanding not reform but change…

they are willing to die not for a belief…

but because their lives have become unbearable…

6.

in the west we have become enamored by our inner lives while forgetting the very fact we are operating in a very real world…

only a neurosis is soothed with the purchase of unnecessary consumer goods.

we buy forgiveness by sponsoring children through world vision and donating to green peace…even our guilt is commodified…

6.22

the capitalist ideology is so embedded it appears as a non entity…there is no such thing as a capitalist party or even capitalist literature…philosophy is missing…it’s appeal is base and common…and it incorporates

religion, science, education, healthcare, art, entertainment, self help, sports

7.

what we believe to be our personal perspective is in fact not yours…it has been shaped and molded and any potential for originality is reduced to 1/8th and that can still be reduced…

7.45

“retain your individuality without becoming enamored”

said the fat piglet to the tired owl  

7.08

life via the internet…

virtual…a good organizing tool…

8.

life lived in person…has more subtlety and nuance

9.

Even the right question is difficult…

How does one respond to an ideology

which has caused more bloodshed

in the last century

than all other causes combined…?

and is still the major contributor

to starvation in so called third worlds…

and of course the right question

will have the answer

one way or another

it is only a matter of time…

9.125

Darwinism;

Israel and Las Vegas,

              religion  luck and 

                                               …destiny.  

10.

saw the end of an old movie last night called “Lucky One” by a British director starring the actor of clockwork orange fame…which was a satire…the director who is dead now said in a post movie interview he used absurdity to expose reality…

life is not linear and there was no beginning middle and end in a final sense        like say a day, which consists of breakfast, lunch and dinner…

10.77

memories may be no more accurate than dreams…

               the advante garde, i imagine,

will have a revival…    

Freelance Friday

As with alcohol,

cigarettes, drugs,

singing, money and writing

I have a difficult time

knowing when to stop…

Here is the first part to poems for the shaw,

 

 

The Name

This short collection of memories, reflections and experiences is called

“Pomes for the Shaw,”

which at the time, was popular vernacular.

An older name would be:

The Edmonton Culture and Convention Center;

An Uprising;

titles to be used intermittently.

A Simple Explanation

A dishwasher working for low wages at the Edmonton Convention Center, sees a woman degraded, a man subjected to racism, and a senior exploited so he forms a union as a small act of vengeance.

Reception

One paid editor, commented, this work was one sixth complete and didn’t feel “Billy the Kid” by Michael Ondaajte was a good comparison.

Disclaimer

These poems are the result of an unsophisticated poet living in the literary world of Nietzsche and Bukowski. I fill the spaces with Layton, Purdy and early Atwood.

I apologize for the poor craftsmanship and self indulgence; these faults are mine and not those of poetry.

Two quotes

“Cheerfully order him to be stupid[gd1] ”

“Gnaw tender ears with biting truth”

A thank you:

To love and life: the beautiful Ramona,

Brother Gabe and Sister Dawn,

Old Man Melvyn

the lovely Lana and Hong

and Charles, Lindy, Ansuya, Polly, Asari, Gordon, Naomi, Lance and everyone else who had the courage to walk outside.

To the Rest

The cowards, the hypocrites, the spineless, the men without balls, the ass kissers and sluts

I wish you no hope, no luck, and no forgiveness, only an abyss, where you are alone and dead with yourself

Now all of you

Fuck off

and go back to work

“Coffee’s Over”

buy the book.

---

[gd1]use latin quote

i believe that piece of writing assumes a lot…so

i assume the people who control Israel are feeling the heat with the uprisings in the middle east, first the t country, then Egypt and another one has joined the fray.

The people are upset because they live on under a dollar a day which was bearable until the price of food went up…pushed to the point of action…just a

slow grinding worsening poverty

much unlike progress.

Most of the countries were under the sway of dictators, who ironically share a similar trait to the ultra wealthy…being billionaires

most for decades, would this maneuvering have occurred under a republican president? or has a space been opened by an Indonesian president…which has further alienated the white fundamentalists from their urban counterparts…we are not quite “all American” as the very vision of the country  is under divide…

the Chinese persuade with “we are all Chinese” when bartering amongst themselves.      

On  a Personal Note

I am still lopsided after my busy weekend in van…deals and drinking…a single mother with two kids, aging parents…a long stay in the DTES…and the trees look the same after my five day absent…and one day i lost entirely. 

Why write? is too open a question

The rich live in pristine nature while i am merely in a first world forest…i have a hard time making sense for it all…excluding reason and including reason…any comments from any literate imaginary readers i may have is welcome…

here’s to citizen wealth,

those dictators should be forced

to turn their assets over to the people

but that never happens…

now why would that be?   

Not in the News     

wikileaks

now why would that be?

never have the inner workings of a super power been revealed,

at even a diplomatic level…and the world is changing…

Obama has created space for humanism 

Assange has created space 

fundamentally using technology…

                                        and poems help

 

 

the us does not want a civil war…

the citizens have more guns than the army… 

mercifully as a failed writer

i can speak of what i do not know 

the revolution will not be televised

     thank goodness for freelance friday

Canadian Literature

Well Canada is a country of over thirty million people and most people here read…

though not so many poetry, philosophy or the classics…

                          it is a different time…

the literature capturing the movement of the city much like jazz..

Review

subTerrain “Strong Words for A Polite Nation”  No. 57

(which is funded by all levels of government through five different organizations

The City Of Vancouver(City) , the BC Arts Council(Provincial) , the Canada Council for the Arts(Federal), and the Government of Canada through the Publication Assistance Program (PAP) and the Canada Periodical Fund.)

The first piece is a monologue by Tim Carlson entitled Fractional Jets…which is about a guy who invests a $100,000 and works for a sham company that sells fractional ownership in jets out of Pemberton, which is just outside Whistler…

the narrator is talking to the child of the conman.

He seems to be discussing an ethical situation where everyone is lying.

He takes some relief by watching the owners of these frauds spend time in jail.

I don’t read all of the magazine…

the second story is a bout the zipline ride in whistler and on the same page in the margins is an article titled

Sorting Hype From Reality: The true legacy of the 2010 Olympic Games…which includes the reality of homeless people being forced into “shelters” legally

The Olympic Resistance Network ran under the slogan “No Olympics on Stolen Native Lands”.

The article ends:

The Olympics is not only a symptom of unfettered capitalism, but also a part of its pathological trajectory…

is it people before profit or profit before people?…

will decisions be made by community or by the elected or worse yet by the unelected elite…?

in this sense being for or against the Olympic Games reflected irreconcilable world views…Which one will prevail…?

It sounds like the debate is between anarchy and a centralized government…since both the elected and unelected elite are seen as problematic and not acting in the best interest of the majority.

The next section is about “Regret” and one chick loses her virginity, some one is reminded of their father by driving, another chick becomes a hooker, advertising about a book called True Home: Life on a Heritage farm…another chick has psychological problems and is addicted to cough medicine and sees a psychiatrist who she doesn’t like…

then more about the Olympics and

i’ll never use the word chick again

but another one writes about being fat…

another one does a period poetry piece,

a dude writes about losing at poker and the shame…

then their are a couple of book reviews;

one about growing up in North Delta and then some adds for competitions  and then a quote from the premiere of bc at the time on the back cover 

“ It’s not always popular to do what’s in your heart you know is right.”                    

Gordon Campbell. 

That’s a slice of Canadian literature from the west coast…

where i believe their are

a large number of scribbling fools

who seem to be on an humanitarian bender…

which does not necessarily equate into good writing…