White people, don’t

[busker]

White people, don’t 

White people, don’t try to be profound 
unless you’re Slavic, or eastern enough
to have identifiable problems, like ceded ground
and ink frozen in inkwells. Or Latin, doing it tough 
through dictatorial cycles. Or British, because the pound
has fallen so much that your ex-colonies are chuffed,
and Shakespeare gives you the right. Or continental, because you’re stuffed
with a welfare state and terminal decline,
so all you can do is jealously guard the names of your wines
like nuclear codes.

Basically, if you’re American, don’t write.
No one wants one more poem about growing up poor in Tennessee
or blacks being lynched. Sing someone else’s plight,
not the tragedy of suburban Dave
taking up up all the airwaves.

[matsunosuperfan]

White people, don’t 

White people, don’t try to be profound 
unless you’re Slavic, or eastern enough
to have identifiable problems, like ceded ground
and ink frozen in inkwells. Or Latin, doing it tough 
through dictatorial cycles. Or British, because the pound
has fallen so much that your ex-colonies are chuffed,
and Shakespeare gives you the right. Or continental, because you’re stuffed
with a welfare state and terminal decline,
so all you can do is jealously guard the names of your wines
like nuclear codes.

Basically, if you’re American, don’t write.
No one wants one more poem about growing up poor in Tennessee
or blacks being lynched. Sing someone else’s plight,
not the tragedy of suburban Dave
taking up up all the airwaves.

why should I, the reader, care about any of this? Poem seems to be written for itself.

[busker]

White people, don’t 

White people, don’t try to be profound 
unless you’re Slavic, or eastern enough
to have identifiable problems, like ceded ground
and ink frozen in inkwells. Or Latin, doing it tough 
through dictatorial cycles. Or British, because the pound
has fallen so much that your ex-colonies are chuffed,
and Shakespeare gives you the right. Or continental, because you’re stuffed
with a welfare state and terminal decline,
so all you can do is jealously guard the names of your wines
like nuclear codes.

Basically, if you’re American, don’t write.
No one wants one more poem about growing up poor in Tennessee
or blacks being lynched. Sing someone else’s plight,
not the tragedy of suburban Dave
taking up up all the airwaves.

why should I, the reader, care about any of this? Poem seems to be written for itself.

You might, if you were an English language poet in Tehran. Or Yerevan. Or Murmansk.

[matsunosuperfan]

White people, don’t 

White people, don’t try to be profound 
unless you’re Slavic, or eastern enough
to have identifiable problems, like ceded ground
and ink frozen in inkwells. Or Latin, doing it tough 
through dictatorial cycles. Or British, because the pound
has fallen so much that your ex-colonies are chuffed,
and Shakespeare gives you the right. Or continental, because you’re stuffed
with a welfare state and terminal decline,
so all you can do is jealously guard the names of your wines
like nuclear codes.

Basically, if you’re American, don’t write.
No one wants one more poem about growing up poor in Tennessee
or blacks being lynched. Sing someone else’s plight,
not the tragedy of suburban Dave
taking up up all the airwaves.

why should I, the reader, care about any of this? Poem seems to be written for itself.

You might, if you were an English language poet in Tehran. Or Yerevan. Or Murmansk.

Fair dues, satire has its target and I seem to lack the proper context. Still one senses it needs sharpening to really pierce. "names of your wines like nuclear codes," that level of sharpness throughout, please!

[wasellajam]

White people, don’t 

White people, don’t try to be profound 
unless you’re Slavic, or eastern enough
to have identifiable problems, like ceded ground
and ink frozen in inkwells. Or Latin, doing it tough 
through dictatorial cycles. Or British, because the pound
has fallen so much that your ex-colonies are chuffed,
and Shakespeare gives you the right. Or continental, because you’re stuffed
with a welfare state and terminal decline,
so all you can do is jealously guard the names of your wines
like nuclear codes.

Basically, if you’re American, don’t write.
No one wants one more poem about growing up poor in Tennessee
or blacks being lynched. Sing someone else’s plight,
not the tragedy of suburban Dave
taking up up all the airwaves.

Don't worry about us, we're working hard on making our lives suck, getting there.

What Americans Can Write About

Escape routes from our broken hearts.

[milo]

The never ending allusion to eastern culture as something exotic and interesting was tired before Kipling - we just allowed it to continue for another century or so.

[busker]

The never ending allusion to eastern culture as something exotic and interesting was tired before Kipling - we just allowed it to continue for another century or so.

Indeed, there is nothing interesting about Asia.
The only thing of interest is poverty. Bourgeoise art is not art.

[milo]

The never ending allusion to eastern culture as something exotic and interesting was tired before Kipling - we just allowed it to continue for another century or so.

Indeed, there is nothing interesting about Asia.
The only thing of interest is poverty. Bourgeoise art is not art.

it can be art but it probably needs to be more self aware of what it is - maybe there is irony in there somewhere

[matsunosuperfan]

The never ending allusion to eastern culture as something exotic and interesting was tired before Kipling - we just allowed it to continue for another century or so.

Indeed, there is nothing interesting about Asia.
The only thing of interest is poverty. Bourgeoise art is not art.

I like having Busker around, I don't have many opportunities to disagree so strongly with such firmly worded bullshit. It brings joy to my contrarian heart.

Sounds like someone's projecting but what do I know lol

Anyway of course it's the dumbest position ever that the value of human reflection and expression is mediated inescapably by one's social class. Criticism that is married to biography is the weakest form of criticism.

[dukealien]

How very extraordinary:  a pile-on that absolutely *embodies* the point the author makes ironically.  If all that snark could be bottled, there'd be no reason to hunt it.