By failing to read or listen to poets, society dooms itself to inferior modes of articulation, those of the politician, the salesman, or the charlatan. In other words, it forfeits its own evolutionary potential. For what distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom is precisely the gift of speech. Poetry is not a form of entertainment and in a certain sense not even a form of art, but it is our anthropological, genetic goal. Our evolutionary, linguistic beacon.
–Joseph Brodsky, opening remarks as United States Poet Laureate, October 1991
I think that Joseph Brodsky, the late Soviet-exiled poet who went on to become the US Poet Laureate, is spot on with the comments above. Poetry, and all the arts, represents our highest form of articulation and connects us with the underlying rhythm, melody, and grace of the universe, drawing us closer to our highest potential. Art in its truest form serves as a unifying force, a voice of and for all people.
I think that the embrace and expanse of the arts — or the neglect or rejection of it– can be a true barometer of a nation’s progress and potential. I think of the controlling regime in this country at this moment and I ask myself a number of questions.
What and where is its poetry?
What art, music, or literature defines and expresses the hopes of all its citizens?
Where is its beauty, its grace?
I haven’t found an answer to any of these thus far. That doesn’t mean there is not an answer that might shatter my whole hypothesis. But nothing jumps out to this inquiring observer. It is a regime that sees any artform expressing a desire for the unity and freedom of all people as being a hostile action.
It has no poetry. No music. No art. No literature. No theater. No dance. No humor.
It seems to exist as a culture without culture.
And that is a society that is not healthy, one that cannot last for too long, let alone aspire to empire.
Okay, that’s all I want to say right now. There’s certainly more that could be said but that is the crux of what I needed to say this morning.
Let’s have some music.
This song has been in my head in recent days, and I’ve been waiting for a chance to share it. It is from the great Mavis Staples‘ new album, Sad and Beautiful World. I shared the title track not too long ago. This song is Beautiful Strangers. It has a poetry, grace, strength, and courage that fits the post and this moment.
Redtree Times 