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Cultural Myths
I hear that you’re working at saving a culture,
from capitalistic-money hungry-greedy-white vultures.
They’re sure to pervert it, while turning a buck.
Their heritage gone, they’ll be boring, and dead out of luck.
You’re to be surgically inserted sometime this December?
Well, be sure to pack warm, and take big jars of amber!
But… have you talked to the ones that you’ve chosen,
have they given consent; they don’t mind being frozen?
–Erthona
©2008-14
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
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(06-03-2014, 05:41 PM)Erthona Wrote: Cultural Myths
I hear that you’re working at saving a culture,
from capitalistic-money hungry-greedy-white vultures.
They’re sure to pervert it, while turning a buck.
Their heritage gone, they’ll be boring, and dead out of luck.
You’re to be surgically inserted sometime this December?
Well, be sure to pack warm, and take big jars of amber!
But… have you talked to the ones that you’ve chosen,
have they given consent; they don’t mind being frozen?
–Erthona
©2008-14
Well, there is that sympathetic consumption and the host of movies with the magical others. Godzilla, for instance, has a wise old Asian man who is in touch with nature. However, strange fruit was written by a Jewish guy. Food for thought I guess its a tricky subject. Protest literature is supposed to reach a large audience. Though Uncle Tom's Cabin was successful we can see some of the racialist thinking in it. Hell, I think people even criticize Douglas for his capitalistic leanings. Doesn't excuse the problems though.
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I agree, that's why I satirized both sides. People want to oversimplify by saying this side is good and this side is bad. Doing something for the right reasons doesn't make you smart, and doing it for money, doesn't mean that is your sole motivation. We also tend to romanticize the "noble savage", when there more often tends to be more savage and less noble as is the case in Darfur.
Thanks for giving it a read,
Dale
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
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Hi Dale: well I looked and looked but could find naught to pick at, love the satire; and wit; also protest poetry. Very enjoyable and interesting. Best, Loretta
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L4 is giving me a fit trying to figure out the meter. help me.
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Well it is accentual verse, and the number of accents varies from line to line, but is generally 4 accents/stresses long. I thought using meter in this would muddy what I wanted to say, plus I didn't want it to feel regular. Here is how I count the accents in L4
Their heritage gone, they’ll be boring, and dead out of luck.
Has almost a waltz pattern, but no consistent meter. You could read this line as mostly dactyls, but I just go with the strong pulse, whereas in metered lines there can be strong and weak stress depending on what the syllable sits next to, so it is not as static as people seem to like to think. However, by whatever means one judges it, this line is longer than the others. I also think that where one places the accent has a lot to do with where you grew up. Anyway, I think there is enough form here that it is more than just end rhyme holding free verse together. Of course as you and I both know there are others who think otherwise when really, they haven't a clue. I hate the saying, "Well, everyone has an opinion and they are all valid." Really, then why don't you go see an auto mechanic about your heart problems. But there is no point in trying to change the mind of the willfully ignorant. You know what I mean 
SD xoxoxoxoxo
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
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I do indeed. And I am certainly no expert on meter, that's why I asked...I knew you could teach me something. I'm getting there, after all this time of shunning rhyme.
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Yes, I knew you did
SD xoxoxoxo
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
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