Politics in Art

"Politics in Art" always bothered me, at least since I've been old enough to care about Nazism and Communism and such. So did so-called "slam" poetry" when I first encountered it on the L.A. open-mic circuit. Just seemed like a lot of guys aping other guys with made-up urban angst and all-to simulated rhymes and rhythms. 

Seemed angry, too. And distant from their true feelings. 

I, on the other hand, had made my rather surprising detour into poetry largely because I had so much in me that had to get out, and I couldn't see any other way of doing it. 

Then, in Charlottesville, Virginia, I wound up "hanging" with some true slammers. What they were doing didn't make any sense at first through my prejudicial haze, but then I read one guy's poetry from a book he was published in. 

That's when I decided to try some. 

My first "free verse" (or what I call "Beat") poem — "An End to War" — I consider today one of my all-time best. 

What it opened up, though, was "politics in art", political rants and such, just what I'd hoped to avoid doing with my poetry. But, I've always been somewhat politically-minded — government was my major in school, after all — and quick with an opinion on what's going on in the world. So there you have it. 

May the Muse forgive me.