Junkyard

-On self-care: If you put yourself on the back burner, you may get burnt ... or burn out.

Karen McMillan

-Humans have forgotten to life on Earth

Hopi prophet

-"when i was a young man growing up in New York City i refused to pledge allegiance to the flag. Of course i was sent to the principle's office and he asked me 'why dont you ant to pledge allegiance? everybody does.' And i said that everybody once believed that the earth was flat, but that didnt make it right. I explained that America owes everything that it has to other cultures, so why dont we pledge allegiance to the world?"

From the documentary 'Zeitgeist: Moving Forward"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytBfshwlws0

-The human family has invaluable friends and irreplaceable allies in the plant and animal worlds. We cannot continue to tug at the web of life without tearing a hole in the very fabric of our earthly existence--and eventually falling through that hole ourselves.

Van Jones

-

A loving journey of transition begins by nurturing self care. If we honour our inner selves we not only live our divine blueprint, we also embrace the richness of humanity as we promote spiritual enlightenment.

Micheal Teal

Random impulse

Throw your body against the machine

Disempowerment and voicelessness
what does that even mean?
make it stop
The man he yaks
half honest lies
maniac
Get on top of the man and stop him in his tracks
Yelling and fussing
attempts made mute by Smartassery
Put some ass into it
Halfassery
We're all bored and oversexed
So we play with puppets
Tugging on twine
What happens when you throw the puppet into the machine
We're all just a bunch of monkeys
Monkey wrenched
Wrench off with brute force i beg you
Throw your body against the machine

Junkyard:

There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!

_________________

I'm in a 60s culture class, and this speech by Mario Savio caught my attention along with the question that my professor posed.

What the hell does it mean to "put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop." To throw Your bodies upon the machine and make it stop... I think that line is kind of a summary of what the 60s did. I'm pretty sure this speech wasn't rehearsed, but done out of pure anger and frustration, but it's so genius and poetic. Where is that kind of drive now and how do we kendell it? We cant even get out student bodies to protest against the new library and coffee shop/ book store and high book prices when what we really need are parking decks and more professors to feed the growing student population on campus; but we still dont have a parking deck,a lot teachers have been fired (and many teachers' jobs are on the line), and bookstore prices are growing exponentially... but the people (machines) running the campus say we dont have the budget so they throw out parking tickets every which way they can.

Reading Response

Subject:

I'm guilty of using topics that lead to ideas that express my dissatisfaction in the political and social problems that i witness. I'm a novice poetry writer, so i feel i have a lot that i want to say, but one of my problems it hat my work usually turns out to be word vomit splattered across the pages of my journals and various index cards or any other black space i can record my thoughts and ideas (or the thoughts and ideas of others who have sparked something within me).

The idea of chasing poetry is a great place for me to learn to focus my creative energy. I usually have spats of ideas , like i said, sprawled through out my journals, index cards, and random pages in my notes from various classes. When i remember, i like to go back and rewrite them all on one piece of paper and find some sort of symmetry in my thought processes. I like the idea of taking time with poetry and not rushing to show people 'finished' pieces. Growth and development of any s0rt takes time, and i feel that everything that i experience and express are important to the cultivation of something new. I like to think of it as thought webs that are developed over a long period of time.

I like the idea of negation and reversals as well. I've actually found that for myself, the things that i usually resist or dislike the most have the most important impact on my personal growth and perspective. I read an article from Psychology Today several months back that suggested that when a person has strong feelings (negative or positive) towards a person or a subject, write down all of the characteristics about that subject. After you're done making the list, review it; chances are the things that you dislike in a person or subject are most likely things that you dislike about yourself, and the things that you do like about a particular subject are things that you see in yourself that you value, or things that you would like about yourself. I enjoyed this section because i think it's the same type of mirroring effect. It's a type of argument with yourself to expand your perception and growth.

As for the 'juggling' section, i enjoy the idea of ambiguity and tension in poetry. I enjoy playing with ideas and leave some type of mystery to be solved. While all of the balls are juggling, they all begin to blur together.

Reading Responses

Voice from WP:
During class we talked about establishing our own voice. Mrs. Ellison said that she felt that it may have been better if we went over this chapter later in the semester because then we would understand better. Well, since poets (or any type of artist) can assume the voice of any character or any caricatured version of themselves, i feel that 'establishing' a voice is kind of an illusion, and even a form of reductionism. Yes, we may become better writers by the end of the semester, but my understanding of 'voice' is just another aspect of the creative process, so it evolves along with the evolution of our character/personality/caricatures/ perspectives.

Style:
I enjoyed the section on "stylistic arrogance". I like the idea that Richard hugo has about the importance of the placement and usage of each word that is added to the start of each poem or idea. I think i need to become a little more 'arrogant' or 'egotistical' in this sense because i'm still a little self conscious about what my work sounds like, the meaning of it, does it sound stupid, will people get it? The way i like to look at my poetry as of now is that i write it first for myself, then i edit it so that maybe others will understand, but i try not to do too much editing because i like to leave a little bit of mystery and challenge in it. (There were fashion references in this chapter to, i guess the way i write poetry is kind of like the way i choose my clothes and put together my outfits most of the time) BUT i'm still developing that skill.

JunkYard

Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.
- Maya Angelou

"Hey, my name is Karma. I'm a bitch!" --My buddy Seth

"...well...bullshit becomes fertilizer. So in some cases...maybe something good will grow."
- My sister Anisa

"If you allow others to influence your life choices then you really aren't living your own life....when life gives you lemons say Fuck the lemons....."

"Bacon is God's candy... not fruit"
-Again... my sister, anisa

random impulse -- sharing assignment from class

E goes and leaves I behind
E goes on and on and on and
So it goes
Egos

Main E yaks
The man, he yaks
Maniac

Man i ache a little
Maniacal
E goes on and on and on and...