dear julia
i will vote for you
when you put my child on your knee
& by my child i mean our children
& by i / of course / i mean we
bt chubby brown babes / r not
prime photo opportunities
& your careful selection / of
translucent bouncing babes
translucent bouncing babes
r like recruitment ads
for the hitler youth brigade
the right kind of migrants
the right kind of migrants
for a sustainable Australia
dear ms prime minister
what the fuck
are you pretending
to be afraid of?
A beautiful, articulate and poignant fusion of poetry and politics. Two of my passions in life.
ReplyDeletenice poem. Im sure all these wicked men planning to run next year for Nigeria's presidency wouldnt like to read. how have you been dear?
ReplyDeleteGreat poem - your emotion and passion always come through your words so strongly and in such a wonderful way!
ReplyDelete... I'll be SO glad when the election 'circus' is over, those staged photo opportunities are the worst and only insult our intelligence.
i love it when you slam
ReplyDeletedear maxine
ReplyDeleteis "translucent bouncing babies" a kind of racism also? i.e. is it the dimunitive of "block black babies"? I say this not because i don't understand "pushing back" but of the danger of playing the same game.
hope this finds you well
love + anarchy
TT.O.
Thanks for all your comments.
ReplyDeleteTT.O - I guess it could be taken that way. I used 'translucent' primarily to indicate the 'transparent' nature of the photo opportunities, rather than the skin colour of the babies, though the duality of meaning made the term more appealing I'll admit.
But yes, I could delete that word and I'm not sure the poem would lose anything.
Then again, to play devil's advocate, who said this was an anti-racist poem?
And if the poem is racist, is 'playing the same game' really such a danger when the status quo is so skewed in the first place?
I sense an heated discussion next time we meet!
Love and anarchy right back at you :)
It is indeed fear that keeps our babies off of certain laps.
ReplyDeleteRage on Maxine :)
Dear Maxine
ReplyDeleteI think taking the word "translucent" out of the poem WILL make a difference; every word counts and is counted and is accounted. The sentiment however you seem to be hold onto WITHOUT apology. (a) I never said it was an "anti-racism" poem (b) if it is "racist" then it IS unforgivable, and not something I would be (i) proud of or (ii) endorse worth. If you play the SAME game you are in danger of creating the same excesses as tho you oppose. The contradiction is along the lines of fucking for virginity. The real problem is OVER stating i.e. comparing Gillard's "racism" to the holocaust --- I don't think is fair or accurate, and dangerously naive about the seriousness of the juxtaposition. A sense of PROPORTION is somehow missing, and this can happen when one "protesteth too much" it burdens the poet. Yes, by all means Love + Anarchy
TT.O.
I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one TT.O.
ReplyDeleteSurely must examine the ACTUAL circumstances and historical and social CONTEXT of the poem. And those facts and contexts are that the current Australian election campaign has been completely run (again) on the xenophobia and hate whipped up but Gillard, Abbott & Co against brown skinned people from third world countries.
This is the context in which Labour selects their 'photo opportunities' with a vast array of Anglo babies and children. This is the context in which the weekend broadsheets take us into the mostly suburban homes of quintessentially 'Australian' families of Smiths, Walkers and Jones' to talk about the 'cost of living'and immigration issues.
And this is the context in which this poem sits.
I don't agree with your 'fucking for virginity'
analogy either. It's absurd in the context of majority/minority politics. Do you feel the actions of the Black Panthers, or recent red army government protesters in Thailand were 'fucking for virginity'?
The very concept of 'protesting too much' in a political context is a complete oxymoron. Why should a political poem be any different.
In addition, you can only play the 'same game' when you are sitting at the same table. If you are locked outside the guarded door, then do you scream and thrash as loud as you can or mind your language and politely ask to be admitted?
I was merely pointing out, by my 'anti-racist' comment, that you seem to have come to the poem with certain assumptions about my politics and purpose in writing this piece.
If this poem is saying 'Labour's photo ops with kids may be racist as they are carefully lining up white babies' then you may indeed feel the poem is 'over the top'.
If , one the other hand, what I am saying is 'When mass media images are so intentionally white-washed and racially specific. When we, as a wonderfully mixed nation, are bombarded with pictures of politicians holding Anglo children, in Anglo homes etc etc etc to the exclusion of all other images...when most of us fail to even NOTICE this carefully marketed subliminal messaging, are these not the same techniques that may one day lead to a catastrophe we would not want to see in this world again'
Then I genuinely believe I have succeeded.
What exactly are you expecting me to apologise for?
Dear Maxine
ReplyDelete(a) I don't expect you to apologize for ANYTHING! (b) " the ACTUAL circumstances and historical and social CONTEXT of the poem" is NOWHERE NEAR parrallellable with NAZI GERMANY. (c) I take it as a given that the election does have a "racist" bent (but less so than in the Howard era, surely!) (d) "in the context of majority/minority politics" anything does NOT go --- if it did you would have to reach NIHILISM --- and or FANATICISM --- and that perhaps is only pertinent in an OUTRIGHT war situation where blood has to be spilt. I don't see those preconditions on the horizon in Australia as yet, unless I'm missing something. (e) when I say 'protesting too much' it’s a condition that a lot of writers find themselves in (me included) --- it seems to go with the territory of "protesting EVERYTHING" which is quite romantic, but un-realistic, damaging, and subjects the poet to a lot of nonsense (esp. after doing it a long time). You can see it in the burden a lot of Aboriginal writers experience i.e. to always be speaking for their race/kin/people…etc i.e. overtly (as opposed to implicitly) in every poem at all times. (f) "you can only play the 'same game' when you are sitting at the same table" is a nonsense, ditto the choices you offer in your statement --- I'm not saying "be polite" I'm saying "be wise" choose carefully and effectively --- slagging-off may feel good, and is at times necessary, but not allllways (g) NOTE: I do not presume to know your motive(s) I come to the poem TEXTUALLY i.e. what you wrote and from what I understood it to be saying or in danger of it saying. Please don't belittle my understanding of you basic point of the racism in bouncing babys about, I disagree with its holocaust metaphor however (h) having Abbot and or Liberal polititians cuddling black babies is just as racist in my book also, as it often is, be they Pop stars, or Lady Dis. (i) my last point, I NEVER accept "agreeing to disagree" I hate that middle-class solution, and I suspect you probably do too if the true the know. Love + anarchy TT.O.
Okay, let's agree to fight it out instead then :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't compared Australia to Nazi Germany anywhere in this poem though, to clarify. I have compared the MEDIA STRATEGIES employed by this election's spin doctors (ie: images of 'blue eyed babes') with MEDIA STRATEGIES employed by the Nazi's, which I believe is a different comparison altogether.
In any case, thanks for your comments - and I sense we will discuss this when next we meet!
The sad parade of those who crave power makes me wince...
ReplyDeleteDig this poem...as always
Peace
this is why i love you, maxine -
ReplyDeleteAugust 19, 2010 12:24 PM - will have to agree to disagree
August 19, 2010 8:55 PM - will have to agree to fight it out
maxine, i could be wrong about this, but i hope that at the end of August 19, 2010 you slept the sleep of the just
Wow, Maxine, this poem is great, highlights certain issues in the campaign that didn't cross my mind at the time. I enoyed reading the debate between you and Pio :)
ReplyDeleteI agree, what the fuck? But Hitleresque-ness may be a leap Maxine, I expect a nice orderly suburbia with well paved passions to be more like the shining hope you're fighting :(
ReplyDeleteAlso HI, long time...
Ms. Maxine, Ms. Maxine. I too love the way you SLAM! I love the balanced rage. the barely contained, restrained, teeth-clenched suck-teething. Love yuh style, my favorite poet Down Under deh.
ReplyDeletenuff Love and admiration,
Kaya
Its a very deep poem, I like it.
ReplyDelete