Thank you for the reply, and: Thank you for the reply, and yes, I did mean my comment as a compliment.
I took one look at the Wake and never opened it again. When I was an undergrad, we were all expected to read and get all dithery over Ulysses, but I only enjoyed two chapters of it (one of them being Molly's long soliloquy). Even with liking those, I can only take Joyce in small doses, very small doses.
A great write: All to often, we can fall into the despair of wanting to be loved where we aren't, wanting to pick the flower in the neighbor's garden. We might stomp through our own field of daisies and glue thorns on their stems, just to pretend they are violent roses in order to justify this desire. Often, I think, we are not even aware of this behavior in ourselves when it happens. At least for a time, till we truly, fully, understand appreciation. You captured the state prior, so well, I think.
Pardon my jumping in, but you: Pardon my jumping in, but you make a fair point about the founders. They are sometimes turned into gods, which they were absolutely nothing near. Quite a few of them pushed for a revolution to avoid having to pay compiled debts to banks in England (large loan debts, not specifically taxes), Samuel Adams took great pleasure in leadings the tarring and feathering of his business opponents when ever he could use their loyalist ties to turn a crowd against them and Thomas Jefferson stopped talking about ending slavery after he realized - in a letter to Washington - that "breeding" his own slaves would make slavery far more profitable (which he then even proceeded to directly "donate" his own sperm to achieving).
Washington, meanwhile, participated in quite a few fraudulent land schemes in New York State (so did Hamilton) - using his surveyor license to doctor land titles and sell the same piece of land to multiple people (who sometimes had gun battles to the death while he counted cash safely in the distance, speaking of guns). That's not even close to the worst thing Washington did, of course. His massacre of indigenous people in what is now Michigan while in the British Military essentially was the powder keg for the "French and Indian" War. Of course, there were plenty of slave owners, elitists who didn't believe most people should vote, and monetary manipulators (purposely issuing worthless money) among the group. In short, the constitution and each of it's amendments needs to stand on their own merits, not on the shoulders of men who weren't quite the giants many would like to believe. At their best, they were very intelligent men. But they were, more than not, extremely flawed to say the least.
Beyond that, I don't wish to offer any other specific thoughts on guns at this current hour. But I wanted to nod to your sentiments about the founders not being infallable.
With certain frogs, there's: With certain frogs, there's no coming back from the hallucination - and you'll soon be growing mushrooms out of yourself. Glad you didn't lick one of those ; )
"On a quest to kiss the sun" is a very poetic lyric, inviting one on an adventure that seems to peel off the "long and winding road". A lot of strong visualizations thoughout (that make me wonder if this was based on a real experience), and peppered with humor along the way. It's not my favorite topic, but you managed to keep me hooked in - which, I think, says a lot for the quality of your writing.
So many break-up poems just: So many break-up poems just skim the surface, but you, with poetic sleight of hand, knew that evocative simplicity and details were the way to make it real and pierce the heart. Your resounding question carries the loss even farther and deeper. Striking work.
Starward, I'll take that as a: Starward, I'll take that as a compliment! About a month ago I had considered picking up a copy of Finnegan's Wake; but after reading a 500 or so word excerpt, I decided to let that one rest on the shelf for a few years. Had that in mind as I started to jumble up the poem I had written, which was equally as nonsensical. Funny as it is, I've spent all day trying to translate it! Not too much success yet, but it was fun to write and edit all the same! :)
The amateur historian: The amateur historian (ancient history) in me---admittedly a rank amateur---suggests that your poem is the verbal equivalent of the Gordian Knot.
With no respect to Stephen: With no respect to Stephen implied or expressed, I think the assertion would be better phrased as, "Guns our tools. In the wrong hands, they assist in killing others." Well, couldn't someone kill a person with a hammer, or a pipe wrench? Yes---but guns are created and manufactured to fire a lethal projectile into living flesh and cause either damage or death. Hammers and pipe wrenches are not manufactured to that intent. Or, like orange juice and, say, poison: a person could choke to death on orange juice, but the jucie was not manufactured for that purpose; poison is manufactured with the sole purpose and intent to bring life, in some form, to a sudden end.
In my opinion (and I can speak for no other person), assault weapons should be entirely banned; possession of them should be criminalized; and ordinary guns should be owned only by those who can pass the most rigorous and demanding background check. Yes, gunlovers will cry loudly about second amendment rights (does anyone else ever speak so much about other amendments), but the Founders were not able to foresee the "arms" would become, and what the "right to bear" them would allow. In just the same way that the Founders could not foresee or admit the reasons to end human chattel slavery, so their perspective, given the era in which they lived, was narrow. Hindsight is always more clear than foresight. The Founders could not foresee, and probably could not have predicted, factorized mass production, so the proliferation of guns and firearms would not have seemed to them the kind of problem it is now.
Although written well, this: Although written well, this was---from the standpoint of content---very difficult for me to read. My own parental problem was not exactly like yours: my parents often "set me up" to fail, or sabatoged my efforts to succeed---mostly socially. Just after I turned thirteen, my paternal grandmother took me aside, apologized to me for my parents' attitude towards me, and insisted that none of it was my fault. So reading this spoke to those old scars that I still carry around, and reminded me of how alone I felt, especially during my adolescence.
I think this series can do a lot of good to and for those who find themselves in similar situations. Knowing that you have shared these experiences from your past will help those who are experiencing their own difficulties, and will help those who, like me, simply cannot forget those circumstances no matter how much they wish to do so.
I thank you for the courageous act of posting this, and I thank you for privileging all of us at postpoems to be permitted to read about these aspects of your past.
Thank you. And no, I didn't: Thank you. And no, I didn't mind bearing the brunt (although I did not think of it as a brunt at all). I am going to see the new Little Evan now.
Not at all, my friend! I took: Not at all, my friend! I took it as a compliment. :) Sometimes I have a mischievous streak in me and like to play little pranks like that anyway. Knowing me, and the place I was in then, I may have even titled this Caligula to get someone to stop and think needlessly in circles! Hope you don't mind bearing the brunt of it, should it be that was the case! Always appreciate your commentary, it's actually helped motivate me to write more. By the way, Dear Little Evan, #3 just posted. It was maybe the hardest one to write yet. Let me know what you think when you get the time.
Respectfully,
Evan
Thank you, sir, for the: Thank you, sir, for the reply. I hope my comment did not seem like a criticism: I thought, instead, that I was either missing some detail, or just badly misreading the poem. I have loved ancient history---the Roman empire and, within it, the early Christians---and during my last two undergrad years, I spent a lot of time reading about the first five emperor, Augustus through Nero. So your poem definitely caught my eye.
Powerful mood shift: I didn't anticipate the suggestion of a distanceless, soulful connection, albeit in a bittersweet moment, to shift into such a lonely drag through a fog. From gentle to heavy, and very well written.
Detachment may reduce sadness, but also all but eliminates joy. I hope you will reattach yourself, despite the difficulties life surely does offer.
Starward, I'm pretty sure I: Starward, I'm pretty sure I was shit-faced hammered drunk when I wrote this and was reading about the Roman Empire. No real connection other than that. Or maybe there was and I just can't remember...?
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