While listening the news about the terrible Paris bombings this poem came to mind. While a little out of date I think it is still well worth remembering.
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HOMEWORK
BY ALLEN GINSBERG
If I were doing my Laundry I'd wash my dirty Iran
I'd throw in my United States, and pour on the Ivory Soap, scrub up Africa, put all the birds and elephants back in the jungle,
I'd wash the Amazon river and clean the oily Carib and Gulf of Mexico,
Rub that smog off the North Pole, wipe up all the pipelines in Alaska,
Rub a dub dub for Rocky Flats and Los Alamos, Flush that sparkly Cesium out of Love Canal
Rinse down the Acid Rain over the Parthenon and Sphinx,
Drain Sludge out of the Mediterranean basin and make it azure again,
Drain Sludge out of the Mediterranean basin and make it azure again,
Put some blueing back into the sky over the Rhine, bleach the little Clouds so snow return white as snow,
Cleanse the Hudson Thames and Neckar,
Drain the Suds out of Lake Erie
Drain the Suds out of Lake Erie
Then I'd throw big Asia in one giant
Load and wash out the blood and Agent Orange,
Load and wash out the blood and Agent Orange,
Dump the whole mess of Russia and China in the wringer, squeeze out the tattletail
Gray of U.S. Central American police state, and put the planet in the drier and let it sit 20 minutes or an Aeon till it came out clean.
Gray of U.S. Central American police state, and put the planet in the drier and let it sit 20 minutes or an Aeon till it came out clean.
Boulder, April 26, 1980
I didn't know this poem, but sometimes that's just what I feel like doing. I wish I could feel more positive but instead I feel fatalistic.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know this poem, but sometimes that's just what I feel like doing. I wish I could feel more positive but instead I feel fatalistic.
ReplyDeleteLike Jenny, I have never heard that poem. Although I'm saddened and horrified by the events that have taken place over the past few weeks, I also see the good in people, like those who accepted and allowed strangers into their homes and provided safety and shelter while devastation was reigning terror right outside their own doorsteps.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I don't think the world is any worse than it has always been. Too many humans want power and have a BAD record for getting along with others. How can we stop aggressive people from wanting to be "top dog," first, the fastest, the richest, the most powerful...? Sadly, aggressive people have always been among us.
ReplyDeleteI had not read that poem in years. Thank you. I am appalled and saddened by the violence, by the horror, and by the xenophobic outcry in this country.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen this poem before, and thank you for sharing it Darla. It is very clever, and the sentiments could still be applied to so many things today. I too feel saddened by recent events - perhaps with the rapidity of social media these days we are exposed to more than previous generations. I almost don't know what to think any more.
ReplyDeleteHaving read the poem, yes what a mess all over the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Patricia, the social media brings the news straight into our living room and live. We all saw what happened in Paris, minute by minute.
As I am writing, Belgium is in of a similar isis-attack as the one in Paris.
To be seen, I pray not.