Antic Hay

Gold cherry

By Ewan

Thu, 16 Sep 2021
  • 2421 reads
13 comments
 

Banned in Australia, burned in Cairo.

Are there better reviews than this?

They dance like goats around the pyre,

with torches and cans of kerosene.

There's nothing new in false perception

nothing new in zealotry's games.

A man afraid of words and wishes

fears the void inside himself.

There's nothing new in self deception,

nothing new in bigotry's names.

 

Certificate PG
Poem
Totentanz
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

Well said Ewan!

 

Submitted by Ed Crane on

 

 

Submitted by onemorething on

I understand the anger both in context and beyond awareness of the context, but no peace or resolution or positive change was ever brought about by more acts of violence. That it was referred to as 'purification' is unsettling enough. Symbolism is its own language and always important. This thought-provoking poem is Pick of the Day. Do share on social media. 

 

Submitted by Mark Burrow on

Nicely done. Like the title too. Great book. 

 

Submitted by Ewan on

it has been both banned and burned.
Thanks for dropping by.

E x

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by Tom Brown on

Yes Ewan it was Ray Bradbury the great Scifi writer who said "Where books are burned now people will be burned later". In Nazi Berlin there was a demonstration with the Fuhrer proudly looking on, a colossal bonfire of thousands of "subversive" books. Ironically, defiantly it started raining and they had to resort to petrol. Usually this kind of thing is fundamentalist religious fanatics or inhumane and evil ideologies and of course, Ignorance.

There has been a lot of this in history and much of it in the name of the christian church.

Your picture of the indian americans and dancing and that sounds quite bizarre. I would think there must better ways, but you can think how they must feel and are desperate for their own pride and very real recognition. And our admitting sins from the past the terrible crimes of genocide and demand justice and compensation. It is much more than about Tintin books.

But yes indeed there must be better ways than middle ages and burning books.

All the best. Tom Brown

 

Submitted by Ewan on

the 19th Century German Poet, Tom. It just goes to show the more things change the more they stay the same.

I wrote this 10 years ago, when books were being burned in the Middle East. There were no native North Americans dancing round those fires.
Thanks for reading and commenting

 

Ewan

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by Tom Brown on

Thanks for the information it would be an effort to check each Quote. The two writers in general are radically different, I wonder about Heine I would think he wrote in German?

Myself I'm a great fan of Ray Bradbury's SciFi short stories. Very original very clever.

Well sorry about that then! Tom

 

Submitted by Nolan on

When we were at school me and my buddies played truant down by the river we made a fire and burnt all our schoolbooks. One guy even burned his underpants. Those were the days.

 

Submitted by Ewan on

 hope he took them off first...

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by David Kirtley on

A very apt poem! I do share your distaste for bookburning. Most books show something of the attitudes of the times and places in which they were written, and are  a record of this. When they are burned we risk losing the understanding they bring. I suppose we can understand why native Americans might want to demonstrate and show their feelings or opinions.

Submitted by Ewan on

and understand why they wish to make the depth of feeling show. How about taking the books off the shelves of the public libraries, leaving copies for research purposes - to be signed out - and recycling them as eco-friendly paper? It's not great to be burning a wood-based product, either.

Author Page at the 'Zon
 

Submitted by marandina on

Fahrenheit 451. Burning books - the ultimate, cultural crime. Well said, sir.