(The painting for the post is “Retroactive II” by Robert Rauschenberg)
Poetry has sometimes been a medium for social critique, as all art forms have. My poems are no exception, and some comment on the world we live in.
One of the poems in my book, The Wind and the Shadows, is called “Post-Modern Sketches.” I attempted to write this poem using mostly words derived by combing two words. My aim was to evoke three meanings in each word: the meanings of each combined word plus a third meaning created by the combination of the words.
For example, the first word in the poem is “Empyrrhic.” This is a combination of “empiric” and “pyrrhic.” “Empiric” refers to knowledge limited to sense observation. “Pyrrhic” refers to a victory that is so costly it wasn’t worth winning. “Empyrrhic” acknowledges the victory of empiric knowledge in our society but questions whether this victory was worthwhile because of the losses we incurred.
The title “Post-Modern Sketches” references post-modernism, a movement which continues to impact culture. In post-modernism, meaning is often created through eclectic combinations; the word combinations I use are a nod to this. I call them sketches because they are just impressions or roughed out portraits of today’s world.
I will own that these are among the densest and most difficult of my poems to read. While writing them, I often felt like I was having a mental melt down! Still, I hope a few people out there will find them interesting and worth noodling on.
I. Empyrrhic victory left us fall-owing jejuneiversity profets of polymeism, divisionaries who vassalate between lieght and night as the whirled twists in the solar wind. II. Technologenies grant wishescape: realiTVs where marionetworks dangle distr-actors, self-centertainers, apalliticians, and scavenjournalists deadwood on dys-play for denihilists. III. Mobnoxious apeerance pressure cult-ure en-forced on the splinternet by the torch and pitchforked tongues of so-shall mediaccusers whose tyranknee-jerk reac-shuns make demockracy their free speechless libertease.
Very clever, Teague. But, as you mentioned….a little difficult to get through!!! Helps me to read your explanation just now.
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Ha-ha, no doubt. I’m glad the explanation helps.
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Like I told your daughter when she was two or three, it is fun to play with words. When finished, clean them off and put them back on the shelf to use again sometime.
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😆
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