People on TV
\nBy Seana Sperling–2011 <\/p>\n
Purple spangled, network jangled,
\nAn invention for pretension.
\nNews Distorters splay their details,
\nFor the world to see. <\/p>\n
Self-important, Caribou slaying,
\nHonest-to-Gosh, down-home playing,
\nMistress to the corporate nation.
\nCult philosophy.<\/p>\n
Tan conformist, rightwing Speaker,
\nWaltzes by the blinded blinkers,
\nRallies all one-sided thinkers,
\nHouse of trickery.<\/p>\n
And the people I see,
\nOn TV,
\nAre beautiful.<\/p>\n
And the people I see,
\nOn TV,
\nAre beautiful. <\/p>\n
Brilliant scholar, castigated,
\nFor revealing history\u2019s failings.
\nEven after death he\u2019s pleading,
\nFor democracy.<\/p>\n
Bold Reporter, leaks the data.
\nAllegations–bogus claimer,
\nSex offender, secret vendor,
\nOr State Treachery.<\/p>\n
Workers grounded, workers hounded.
\nTerms that fault the corporate vision,
\nCausing a midair collision,
\nClass disparity.<\/p>\n
And the people I see,
\nOn TV,
\nAre beautiful.<\/p>\n
And the people I see,
\nOn TV,
\nAre beautiful.<\/p>\n
Nation\u2019s leaders, lobby feeders,
\nWander through the corporate treasures,
\nRewards for some future ventures,
\nVeiled hypocrisy.<\/p>\n
And the people I see,
\nOn TV,
\nAre beautiful.<\/p>\n
And the people I see,
\nOn TV,
\nAre beautiful.<\/p>\n
Land of freedom, veiled oppression,
\nBovines watching with affection.
\nQuestion Box filled with suggestions,
\nShelved, empirically. <\/p>\n
And the people I see,
\nOn TV,
\nAre beautiful.<\/p>\n
And the people I see,
\nOn TV,
\nAre beautiful.<\/p>\n
The following poem is meant as a condemnation of the Industrial Military Complex and corporate greed and not a criticism of the soldiers who altruistically served. <\/p>\n
Grim Harvest
\nBy Seana Sperling 2010
\nThe new recruits,
\n10,000 strong,
\nLined up in shiny boots,
\nShiny metal,
\nLeave the ground in a flash of silver,
\nTicker-tape falling like white ash. <\/p>\n
They return in boxes,
\nOr half-alive.
\nTheir minds,
\nLocked in boxes.<\/p>\n
They struggle between,
\nConscience,
\nAnd programming.
\nAmbiguity in a paranoid age,
\nThat encases them,
\nLike a hoary cocoon.<\/p>\n
Innocent heroes devolved,
\nThrough desensitization,
\nAggressiveness training,
\nLike the Manchurian candidates before them,
\nIn Hanoi and Pusan.<\/p>\n
Civilians follow numbly,
\nStumbling off the cliff,
\nInto a sea of abbreviated truths,
\nAnd expanded narratives.<\/p>\n
The devolution,
\nThat perpetuates,
\nDisorder, dysfunction,
\nUnder the auspices,
\nOf patriotism.<\/p>\n
We are descendents of ages,
\nOf propaganda and tyranny.<\/p>\n
All the complexities,
\nOf life in a double-binding system,
\nWhere freedom,
\nIs surrendered,
\nFor the fa\u00e7ade of security. <\/p>\n
All the while the power-mad raptors,
\nScreech orders,
\nThrough cracked jaws and broken teeth.
\nThey pad their back pockets,
\nAnd foul the earth,
\nWith the by-products,
\nOf their proceeds.<\/p>\n
Will the meek really inherit the world?
\nWill the meek even want it?<\/p>\n
Above Ground (or, The Fascists Among Us)
\nBy Seana Sperling 2010<\/p>\n
The sky, rose tinged,
\nAs the sun retreats.<\/p>\n
Doves ascend in formation,
\nMaking a circuit of the town square.
\nLight reflects silver as they turn.<\/p>\n
The watchers, perched in long-limbed trees,
\nYowl their reports,
\nThrough cracked jaws and broken teeth.<\/p>\n
In the distance \u2013 Screeching.
\nRaptors plummet into the startled aviators.
\nClaws \u2013 battle ready.<\/p>\n
Lifeless bodies descend.
\nSoft gray feathers drenched in red.<\/p>\n
The hawks shriek in triumph,
\nBlood glistening on their talons,
\nReady to repeat the attack.<\/p>\n
Next time,
\nThe sparrows.<\/p>\n
Neighbors
\nBy Seana Sperling 2010<\/p>\n
Neighbors is a bar on Capitol Hill.
\nIn the 90\u2019s I used to go on Thursday nights,
\nAnd watch saucy drag queens,
\nTaunt cute gay lads,
\nThat dared to sit at the front tables.<\/p>\n
Neighbors is a bar on Capitol Hill,
\nWhere folks would celebrate on Pride Day,
\nDancing until the sweat soaked through,
\nTheir brightly-colored summer clothes.
\nNeighbors was a happy place.<\/p>\n
Neighbors is a bar on Capitol Hill,
\nWhere I would often see friends,
\nAcquaintances, coworkers,
\nDancing to burn off,
\nDrinks so stiff that one would be plenty. <\/p>\n
Neighbors is a bar on Capitol Hill.
\nThe last time I went I was frisked at the door,
\nAnd when they found mace in my coat pocket,
\nThat I kept for safety,
\nThey wanted to take it away.
\nI offered to check my coat.<\/p>\n
Neighbors is a bar on Capitol Hill,
\nWhere I used to feel welcome.<\/p>\n
Time
\nBy Seana Sperling\u2014written 2009<\/p>\n
I live in a time when melting polar ice caps and the world economic crisis are household discussions.
\nI live in a time when stampedes of brainwashed shoppers mow down others for a discounted TV at Christmas. Manslaughter is manslaughter even if it is involuntary.
\nI live in a time when Washington State cuts funding for higher education, yet will fund a streetcar that citizens have repeatedly said they did not want.
\nI live in a time when rich C.E.O.\u2019s will race to Washington D.C. and beg for handouts. However, these guys aren\u2019t asking for spare change.
\nI live in a time where the U.S. Intelligence Agencies have spawned two wars and are manipulating a third.
\nI live in a time when there are nearly a million people in the U.S. employed by our Intelligence agencies and their sub-contractors.
\nI live in a time where War Protestors are called anti-American.
\nI live in a time where Activists, Writers, Educators, etc. are put on Government Watch Lists and harassed as a result. I\u2019ve been detained at the border and when I travel. Have you?
\nI live in a time when big companies genetically manipulate plant life and our animals to increase profits. What actually is in your cornflakes?
\nI live in a time where the prospect of chipping average citizens with RFIDs has become more than a looming threat. Sadly, some average citizens think it\u2019s a good idea.
\nI live in a time when neighbors spy on each other, looking for \u201csuspicious activity,\u201d in the name of Homeland Security.
\nI live in a time where the local news advocates for Trash Collectors to inspect what you discard.
\nI live in a time where technology is so developed that even our most private thoughts can be accessed.
\nI live in interesting times.
\nIt\u2019s not all bad though.
\nI live in a time when many U.S. citizens have put away some prejudice and elected our first African-American President.
\nI live in a time where Gay and Lesbian couples are getting a shot at some real equality. Gay marriage is not being marginalized in every state.
\nI live in a time when women are beginning to make real cracks in the glass ceiling. (Even though the bigots still call strong women bitches.)
\nI live in a time where I\u2019m not forced to wear a dress to my workplace or anywhere else. Oh how I hated wearing dresses as a child.
\nI live in a time when people are coming together to promote change for the better. Change for the people, the earth and the animals.
\nI live in a time where I have to make a choice, to help change the world and even my own outlook or drown with the sheep in the meltdown.<\/p>\n
War of the World III
\nby Seana Sperling 2001<\/p>\n
News–not so new anymore.
\nRepertory theater or programming.
\nThe media assails us with images.
\nIn the wake of trembling monoliths,
\nThe sky is darkened from the funeral pyre.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by jingoistic harmonies,
\nThe pundits redistribute Social Security.
\nIt\u2019s only surplus, after all.
\nYouth congregate in uniform and new metal,
\nAnother surplus, we\u2019ve held in reserve.<\/p>\n
While forces gather in the Dead Sea,
\nThe life I\u2019ve known becomes ephemeral,
\nJust another thing left unfinished,
\nAmong the debris. <\/p>\n
While the Pentagon hatches greater strategies,
\nThe stream of reports coincides with,
\nThe right thinking population,
\nAnd leaves the left perplexed,
\nBeneath the waving flags.<\/p>\n
The forecast:
\nCloudy with chances of catastrophe.
\nChasing the phantom through a mire,
\nOf poverty and hopelessness,
\nThe falcon seeks revenge on the indigent,
\nThe available.
\nRipping into still warm bodies,
\nTalons, rust-colored, stained from ages of tyranny,
\nThe raptor consumes.<\/p>\n
At the sound of the siren,
\nThe bird flees, to return home,
\nAnd feed on its\u2019 own nest. <\/p>\n
All is Dust
\nBy Seana Sperling<\/p>\n
The jet\u2019s flash and a roar,
\nA bold streak,
\nRips through blue sky.
\nA diversion, while,
\nLegal Tender rains,
\nFrom fiery clouds,
\nCovering the earth,
\nIn sage-colored ash,<\/p>\n
All is dust.<\/p>\n
Where the Land Rovers,
\nAnd Humvees circle,
\nTo glean from the visored.
\nTo shear the fleece,
\nFrom the blinking flock,
\nWhose gaping maws,
\nHave forgotten how,
\nTo relate,
\nWithout texting.<\/p>\n
All is dust.<\/p>\n
While double-breasted bandits,
\nLay claim to the domiciles.
\nBack-pockets bulging.
\nPlacing their placards,
\nOn newly mown lawns.
\nDotting the streets,
\nWith white picket signs.
\nA special.
\nToday only.
\nOpen House.<\/p>\n
All is dust.<\/p>\n
And the brigands accumulate,
\nAccrue,
\nAmass,
\nHoard,<\/p>\n
All is dust.<\/p>\n
They strut past,
\nThe out-stretched hand.
\nShove through,
\nThe sign-waving pickets.
\nDenounce:
\nThe pleas,
\nEntreaties and,
\nPredictions.<\/p>\n
Claiming that,
\nAll that dust,
\nIs really gold.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Tongues
\nBy Seana Sperling 1989<\/p>\n
Life\u2014in a society that kills for
\nThe right price. In a world where children take
\nFor granted that success lay in cash flow.
\nAll the cripples will quietly sit by
\nWhile being kicked for sitting. Don\u2019t over-
\nAnalyze. This paralysis is the<\/p>\n
Subtle rape that takes place inside of the
\nPsyche. Our desires are altered for
\nMaterial possessions. Take over,
\nControl another or others. Take, take
\nTake. The ME generation, that gains by,
\nOther\u2019s losses. Discarding free thought flow<\/p>\n
For pre-calculated values. Out-flow
\nOf ideas meeting personal needs. The
\nStrong survive and the guilt is lifted by
\nWhite-gloved hands that sign their name in blood for
\nProsperity\u2019s sake. B-students re-take
\nTests for A\u2019s because now all is over-<\/p>\n
Done. Successful anorexics over-
\nEat and punish themselves while vomit flows
\nDown the drain. We are disillusioned. Take
\nDrugs to ease the strain that life puts on the
\nFew who still feel the guilt and regret for
\nThe greed and selfishness that\u2019s strolling by<\/p>\n
Our side. One\u2019s value is determined by
\nLooks. Suicide is committed over
\nThe reflection in the mirror. Search for
\nSincerity in an ocean that flows
\nInto diseased rivers, carrying the
\nInnocent into epidemic. Take <\/p>\n
Or make donations to ease the guilt. Take
\nAnother pill to sleep. Nightmares haunt by
\nYour encouragement. Break appointments, the
\nPsychiatrist is leaving town over
\nMalpractice suits. The laundered money flows
\nIn streams by contraband. Signatures for <\/p>\n
Corporations, ready for the take-over
\nObscured by rhetoric, senseless words flow
\nThrough the open lips. What are they good for?<\/p>\n
Skindiving 1989
\nBy Seana Sperling<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve begun questioning dedication,
\nMine, others. Sincerely analyzing
\nMy motives. Hypocrite, paralyzing
\nThe actions, crippling philanthropy.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve begun questioning jurisdiction.
\nThe answers escaping explanation.<\/p>\n
I bury cadavers methodically,
\nA voyeur, ruthlessly excavating
\nThe shrouded, petrified sarcophagus
\nContaining gossamer apparitions. <\/p>\n
What\u2019s a Little Orafix Between Friends
\nBy Seana Sperling 1990<\/p>\n
You want me to suck in your words
\nAnd swallow your ideas.
\nQuestion you?
\nSo many pricks trust your emissions.
\nIt\u2019s difficult for the fairer sex,
\nWith all your hands-on ego experience.
\nMy incisors might not be the response
\nYou were expecting. <\/p>\n
Capital Improvements
\nBy Seana Sperling 1989<\/p>\n
The Capitol Building looks to me like
\nSo much empty heated marble and the
\nGrounds are manicured poodle pissing spots
\nThe Roman columns hold up a roof for
\nNo inhabitants, just the transient
\nPolitician, in for a daily job.<\/p>\n
Of pushing people and paper on jobs.
\nSometimes I wonder if I even like
\nPolitics. It all seems so transient
\nAnd absurd at times and if you think the
\nWorst is yet to come, better look out for
\nToday. It\u2019s here and I tend to get spots<\/p>\n
In front of my eyes when I see the spots
\nWhere people sleep because they can\u2019t find jobs.
\nThey go through the trash to find paper for
\nTheir fires, so they won\u2019t freeze to death, unlike
\nUs in our warm homes eating dinner. The
\nOld people like to call them transients. <\/p>\n
But do they like being called transients?
\nI\u2019ve never visited one of their spots
\nOr have ever approached one of them to ask the
\nQuestion. I see many of them at Job
\nService as I ride my bike past them like
\nThis was quite normal. They were waiting for<\/p>\n
The bus or maybe they were waiting for
\nTheir ship to come in. Dreams are transient
\nAnd tend to escape you by daylight like
\nWisps of smoke in a breeze and red sun spots
\nDisappear in the shade. I\u2019ve got my jobs
\nAnd my sunblock protects me from all the<\/p>\n
Ultra-violet rays that can damage the
\nExposed skin. I\u2019ve got my warm sweaters for
\nThe cold days. All my friends have their own jobs
\nSo they won\u2019t end up being transients
\nSitting in the park collecting sun spots
\nOr frostbite, or newspapers and cans alike. <\/p>\n
Maybe we should give all the transients
\nThe Capitol Building and grounds for spots
\nAnd give them a job like politician. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
People on TV By Seana Sperling–2011 Purple spangled, network jangled, An invention for pretension. News Distorters splay their details, For the world to see. Self-important, Caribou slaying, Honest-to-Gosh, down-home playing, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-74","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilsociety-civilworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilsociety-civilworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilsociety-civilworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilsociety-civilworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilsociety-civilworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/civilsociety-civilworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269,"href":"https:\/\/civilsociety-civilworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/74\/revisions\/269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilsociety-civilworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}