Curse The Animals!
A somewhat silly set of limericks in honour of Harry Radcliffe and my time in Anarchapulco.
He really didn’t think it through to see government’s but a zoo. Screeching apes, those jackanapes, Yet he says I’m talking bull poo. I tried to warn they’d run amok, but he just looked at me dumb-struck. Their wealthy backers sounding quackers, all that he could say was “duck!” It really was a painful slog to make some senseful dialogue. He whined like swine when truth did shine and cried out like a female dog. Until, at last, he could confront the predators who prey and hunt. Feelings straining, now complaining, “Should’ve told me earlier, runt!”
Curse The Animals ~ A Poem by Tom Shaw
They say that laughter is the best medicine - which makes it fitting that it was a tweet by
that put me on to and his . The joy I’ve had in reading and engaging with his increasingly ridiculous prose inspired me to write something silly of my own for a change, and I had great fun going through the process of creating this piece and reflecting on the public discourse on many sociopolitical issues over the past few years - and the reactions of some of those going through their own “awakening” process.In their day, court jesters were revered for their powers in truth-telling, wielding the ability to make a mockery of the highest levels of nobility where no others were able to. It is a tradition that continues in modern day comics and their ability to speak truth to the corruption at the highest levels of society, delivered in a manner that should be tolerated and celebrated. I say “should” be tolerated - it’s perhaps not surprising that comedy is so strongly targeted by cancel culture, especially when comedians speak to a truth that is counter to prevailing narratives.
Comedy has a unique ability of both lifting people to joy and communicating truth simultaneously, and I’ve been especially impressed at the likes of Alistair Williams and his ability to do this over the course of the past few years. Comedy, including satire, can help people bond in a way many other art forms struggle to, providing a vehicle to release the tension of a room with. And, it is truly an art, requiring equal part magician and equal part fool to be channelled during its creation and delivery.
primed me to channel some of that sense of fun, and then my time in Anarchapulco has truly cemented the value of fun as a means of releasing tension. I had so many experiences there that have pushed my understanding of my own self in ways that I can look back on with so much joy and gratitude; I can and do acknowledge how blessed I am to have come through the lower moments of my life to be here now. With that, I’ve also come to appreciate how “fun” does not mean “reckless” - there is nothing fun about off-kilter jokes when somebody is going through a struggle and needs space to be held. The fun comes from working with that process, holding space for those people as the fires within them burn through, as then we get to experience the fun of the release and looking-back at the end.I believe poetry can do that too. There is a place for serious poetry, and there is a place for silly poetry too. To me, both are routes to fun, both in reading or hearing them and in writing them.
Here’s to many more poems that lead to a sense of fun, however that journey may look.
With gratitude,
Tom
...cried out like a female dog.
Made me laugh! Fun stuff, Tom.
.
Archy vs Anarchy
Levels vs Level (playing field, etc.)
Stuck in
my place vs no place (utopia)
or
High Priest vs Congregation
is in charge...
Tom,
Yes, we are animals in a sense. After all, we're not plants. We're not inert matter. We are animated. As animals, we have at times recognized alpha males, pack leaders, and dominating top dogs of rank.
Speaking of empires and other political systems, what needs to die and what needs ti be reborn?
What if's.
What if I said I identify as royalty and my pronouns are "Your Majesty" and "Your Highness"?? As impossible as that seems, suppose I got away with it, along with all my family and offspring, for thousands of years. Even more impossible, right?
Now what if, after some thousands of years, some upstart underlings told me that the history of my family's greatness was merely a series of "human events"??
Suppose further that these uppity upstarts claimed, even though my powers were from God, Divinely blessed by God, that Nature endowed *them* with Rights separate from me and equal to my Rights!! What lawless insult! What injury to peaceful law and order, not to mention proper decorum!!
The blasphemous scumbags actually sent me this message in writing:
[as if: Dear George III (me)],
"When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bonds which have connected them with another
and
to assume among the powers of earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's god entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind require that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation..."
[See openning line of the united States of America Declaration of Independence]
...so...
As "archy" puts some peeps to rule the empire, and "mon-archy" puts one peep to rule the empire, we should understand "an-archy" as a system with no dominating ruler ruling others. "Anarchy" has gotten a bad name, now pejorative, as if it were synonymous with utter chaos, but in fact it is the only political condition that allows for a fair, lawful, and human constitutional republic.
I have a rather uppity opinion of politics. I believe humans can choose to operate on a higher plane than some oppressive animal kingdom. I believe we each may choose to value truth, goodness, and beauty above all else. Some call this our citizenship in the Kingdom of Heavan.
That works for me.
mark spark
PS
Has the ancient UK/Hapsburg/Venetian/Roman empire recaptured the young republic? To what extent?
Republic -
a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
.