This Series of So-Called Poems

August 26, 2009 by ericchaet

You can access the so-called poems by clicking on their titles in the right-hand column. There is also an introduction, called “*Eric Chaet.”

Tho—
given prevailing conditions—
it is approximately impossible
this evolving transfinite series
of so-called poems exists
as much as Homer’s Iliad
or Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching
or Isaiah’s Book
or Dante’s Divine Comedy
or Whitman’s Leaves of Grass
or a rock or water
or the Chinese Communist Party
or the Republican or Democratic Party
of the United States of America
or the Iranian or Russian government
or the national oil companies
of Brazil, Malaysia, or Mexico
as Somalia, Sudan, or Guinea
or BP, Shell, or Exxon-Mobil
Al-Qaeda or JPMorgan Chase
or the Bank of England
or Apple, Google, Microsoft
giant weapons-producing conglomerates
or military contractors or various nuclear arsenals
or politically-awarded subsidies
or the cost of getting elected to represent people
who can’t afford to contribute to your campaign
even if they weren’t so furiously cynical, so fatalistic
so trapped in the herd they wrap themselves in for warmth
as light, photosynthesis, sight, as blood, bone, breath
or the place where you buy groceries, or the groceries.

Patience & perseverance
learning & practice
integrity & adaptability
refusal to accept what’s wrong
daring to believe what seems so
tho no one, near or far, around you, believes it
initiative & follow-thru
one life-time at a time.

I don’t find most poetry
ancient, modern, or contemporary
of much value to me—
but the poetry I find that is valuable is like
oxygen, clean water, wholesome food, cash, or love to me.
I hope you find these so-called poems of real value to you.
I wrote them with that intent.

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Picture: U.S. Geological Survey