Hannah

I realize my poetry style is actually
a mix of some bad drunken street rapper
with Hannah Arendt's books on
political theory

she was a poet like myself
who did not rhyme a thing

and ultimately abandoned the form
for thick prose of nearly endless clauses

in order to attempt to describe the
human condition and the origins of fascism
to herself and the world

her presumption of
the benefit of a separation
between public and private worlds

was a vast indulgence
dooming most of her conclusions

to be nothing more than a reflection
of the last thing she would ever want

the display of a personal psychology
of privilege writ large onto the world

while not without its merit
she would cringe at the thought
that it was her life that was likely
more important than her writings

and that as a German Jewish woman
poet, and philosopher of great intellect,
her passion to say SOMETHING on the matter
was itself a flame that burned through much
illusion

nevertheless it was her poetic moments
which were most meaningful to me
even if written in the form of prose

and ultimately assisted me
in my shamanic encounters with
the mental wards of Thurston County

for it may well be true:

even in dark times we have the right to expect some illumination and it may well come less from theories and concepts than from the weak, uncertain and often flickering light kindled by men and women under almost all circumstances and shed throughout the timespan given them on Earth