So said Grandmaster Flash, for there was indeed plenty to be furious about. More than a few of us went over the edge; some never climbed back.
More of that later perhaps. This is simply to establish the context, which is - if you like - my 'angry young man' period. I was 25 at the time of the earliest piece here, shortly to hit the buffers of unemployment. The latter-day veneration of Thatcher overlooks her baleful impact on so many; we forget what 3 million unemployed (one in eight of the working population) looks like. And that was only those who were claiming.
As you can see, I had (and still have) a political standpoint. Being a full-time student union hack back then, that's unsurprising. But then I don't believe anyone is fundamentally apolitical, even the most vehemently self-declared apathetic: if you have views about the decisions that affect your life, you have politics. You may not act on those opinions - either because of circumstance or out of laziness, or because you can't see how you can change anything - but that's about the processes (or lack of them) available to you. Too many see politics only in terms of the narrow scope of parliamentary parties. They are mistaken.
Anyhow, poetry rarely handles raw politics, which is often driven by anger, well. Quite apart from its characterisation as "emotion recollected in tranquilty" (Wordsworth) - to be 'tranquil' about climate change, for example, simply isn't an adequate response - poetic attempts to render such feeling mostly end up preaching. Passion is a poor counsellor; it leaves no space for dialogue with the reader. The world is full of bad poems derived from good sentiment, and some of mine are here.
The other 'driver' (sorry, I am deeply infected with corporate jargon) for my poetry all those years ago was the reason why many scribblers start - emotional catharsis. That's fine - and in 1981 my own psychological H-bomb was waiting just around the corner - yet, to move others, one needs to reach beyond mere navel gazing.
Enough for now. As further verse appears, there may be more to say. Or not.
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Captain;
ReplyDeleteIt's great to have you onboard the good ship intrawebnetthingy.
Just reflecting on your introduction above, how are we to persude people that politics not only concerns but also needs them? How do we beak down the indifference? In short how do we persuade people that Big Brother, Next and Heat Magazine are not the be all and end all?