An Open Letter from Sam Hamill, July 4th

[LWolf]

<snip>

The war, however, has only just begun. The Bush policies have been somewhat reinforced, at least for the short run, thanks to manipulative, flag-waving media. Poets Against the War will remain an active organization opposing new and continuing wars and new "patriotic acts." Now it is time for long-range planning. For that reason, the Board of Directors has appointed Andy Himes to the position of Executive Director. I will continue to serve on the board while acting as Artistic Director, aided by an Advisory Committee of poets to be named within the month. We will continue to extend our message and provide valuable information, as well as opening a forum where poets may explore strategies and propose actions.

We have drawn our line in the sand. Our tools are everyone's tools: the simple words we use almost thoughtlessly every day, but use in our art with scrupulous honesty and precision. I am Confucian enough to believe that "All wisdom is rooted in learning to call things by the right name." And we poets understand why Dante put the defilers of language into the seventh circle of his Hell. Our liberties are defined by a few clear, simple words

The history of poetry is filled with advocacy, private and public. It is our privilege to draw on that history and to educate our friends and neighbors – and ourselves – to extend the vast pleasures and wisdom of poetry as we explore ideas, working to make a peaceful world together. In telling the story, in singing the song, there is always the poetry behind the words, both the beautiful and the deceitful. The more people learn to see clearly through the deliberately warped language of this administration, the sooner we shall understand the consequences of our actions. The better our poetry, the better we come to understand the terrible damage done by inappropriate metaphor and deliberately deceptive misnomer.

Only a few well-chosen words can make peace. And even then, only when we are willing to fully inhabit those words. To live by them. By August 1st, <poetsagainstthewar.org> will once again begin publishing new poetry on our web site. May we all find those few right words we can live by.

I have a poem on this site, in the original 13,000+ submissions. It didn't make the published book; no surprise, lol. I'm wondering what the focus for the next collection will be; Africa? Elections? I'm thinking about what sort of poem to submit this time.

[roughsatori]

1. Here is an essay I just read this morning: "Poetry & Politics"

It's from a website that attacks most of the current crop of MFA, workshop poets, but I like the site for a change of pace.

http://www.cosmoetica.com/S10-TS1.htm