Category Archives: philosophy

July 8, 2020 · 3:07 pm

Their Humanity – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: thinglink.com Still from the 1968 musical ‘Oliver twist’

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” Dom Helder Camara

Their Humanity

Why do you fear that
helping another will cheat 
you of all that you dream
for yourself, and that your small
piece will be taken by those less 
deserving of their humanity,
that it takes away your veneer of
appearing caring when you give
so little and the self-righteous
judgements you offer, that their
poverty is clearly deserved, and
besides, it is your superpower to 
divvy droplets of coin like cheap 
salvation so long as someone is
watching your performance?
Why do you imagine that the
world is just for you?

©Paul Vincent Cannon

Note: Following Camara’s famous comment I note that it is still the case that it is easy to pillory or dismiss people who become concerned for the plight of others as ‘leftist’, ‘communist’, ‘socialist’, ‘social democrat’, ‘democrat’, ‘Christian democrat’, Greens and etc., etc.

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July 7, 2020 · 2:46 pm

But Not Today – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: dailymail.co.uk Still shot from the movie 1984

“There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.” Montesquieu

But Not Today

How clever
the con of flags and
their purveyors who 
valorise sacrifice for 
ideologies that dribble
like bird shit down 
lifeless, barren statues,
testimonies to a violence
nurtured by cunning liars
who consume our flesh,
but not today,
today we burn your flag
repudiating your death cult,
and beat your statues into
life-giving vessels bearing 
gifts of life and love that
set us free to determine
that no one will die this day
for the sickness that is a 
canker in your fetid heart.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

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July 1, 2020 · 2:34 pm

It’s Time To Light A Fire – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: bbc.com

“A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.” Guy Fawkes

It's Time To Light A fire

Up on the hill the light recedes
as the western candle dims,
wick ravaged to ill effect,
too frayed to rise again with 
wax beyond plenish once more,
there's a chill wind blowing
and the age is dark,
it's time to light a fire.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

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June 9, 2020 · 3:37 pm

Two Hearts – prose by Paul Vincent Cannon

Merril at dVerse has invited us to write a piece of prose using the words “We go in different directions down the imperturbable street.” by Gwendolyn Brooks.

dVerse Poets – Prosery






Photo: businessinsider.com.au










“How weird it was to drive streets I knew so well. What a different perspective”  





Two Hearts





Should we go in different directions down the imperturbable street we might discover a confusion of serenity that, in fact, all is not what it seems. In my view all is chaotic fulmination, voices ringing off concrete, the air thick and potent with energy, only to be swallowed in the humous of bordered gardens as dusk ensues, waiting for dawn. In your view, all is serene and in its place, a stillness and a quiet resolve of patient ferment pervading the air. It just happens to be that we are going the same way, though in very different directions down the same street. Somewhere in the parallel journey we find the middle line without looking. There’re no surrendering views, just two trapeze artists in a shakedown in the kingdom known as middle road. Life is richer that way. Two hearts are better than eyes.





©Paul Vincent Cannon

			

	
	

		
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		June 2, 2020 · 3:23 pm	


	
Into The Heart – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
	

		

Photo: http://www.thealliancetx.org





Linda at dVerse has invited us to write a quadrille (44 words) using the word slip.  





dVerse Poets – Quadrille – Slip





"Pit race against race, religion against religion, 
prejudice against prejudice. Divide and conquer! 
We must no let that happen here."  Eleanor Roosevelt

Into The Heart

All the world's an ideology
a race of humans never won,
we wear a mask of society,
eschew our common-unity,
too much in our ego self,
too little for the common good,
let's slip into something
more comfortable,
let's slip into the heart.

©Paul Vincent Cannon







			

	
	

		
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		May 26, 2020 · 4:02 pm	


	
Pretending – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
	

		
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Photo: thegoodmenproject.com


 


“There is a price to pay for speaking the truth. There is a bigger price for living a lie.”   Cornel West


Pretending


There are some,

but few lines are straight,

we are two uneven halves,

and the wind whips nature

into new maps as rivers

carve bends that even turn

in on themselves while

the relentless ocean

ever wastes itself on

shoreline rocks,

but we become illusion

to satisfy demands,

we straighten lines and bends

offering opinions

that want to be heard,

presenting faces that

want to be seen,

living a deception of ourselves,

pretending to believe in the

straightness of lines.


©Paul Vincent Cannon


Note: The Japanese have a word that describes those who pretend to believe something to suit society – Tatemae


Paul, pvcann.com.

			

	
	

		
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		May 20, 2020 · 4:33 pm	


	
Of Yesterday – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
	

		
dVerse Poets – Poetics – Portals


Anmol at dVerse has invited us to consider portals for our poem in Poetics.


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Photo: Ormiston Gorge, NT. A fabulous place just to be.


 


“Holding on is believing that there’s only a past; letting go is knowing that there’s a future.”  Daphne Rose Kingma


Of Yesterday


 


Quiet,

said the silence,

let the air be thin,

nothing will fly,

only the grace of birds,

no words will form

for a traverse

of yesterday,

wear nothing dark,

for though tomorrow

we bury the past,

it is the mystery of

the future we grieve.


©Paul Vincent Cannon


Paul, pvcann.com

			

	
	

		
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		May 16, 2020 · 5:25 pm	


	
We Forgot – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
	

		
 


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Photo: http://www.newsclick.in


 


“We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong we may begin to use it with love and respect.”  Aldo Leopold


We Forgot


The words dissembled before me,

tumbling down,

my mouth moving,

searching for meaning,

glory in failure,

we forgot beauty,

running after fantasy

coated in soft-tongued speeches,

fetid, like an open sewer

wrapped in a bloody tricolour,

the bunting of martyrs,

fugitives of ourselves

on the parapets of love.


©Paul Vincent Cannon


Paul, pvcann.com


 

			

	
	

		
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		May 4, 2020 · 3:46 pm	


	
Together We Go – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
	

		
Italylockdown3.jpg


Photo: intelligentliving.co   one of the many wonderful scenes of Italians engaging each other across balconies and courtyards during the lockdown.


 


“One thing I have seen spread faster than coronavirus: connection – with family, friends, and our communities.”  Charles F. Glassman


Together We Go


I sat in the

impenetrable darkness,

a Götterdämmerung,

heavens rent sky falling,

some devoted to the tyranny

of lesser gods, while

others tried to escape

that which cannot be escaped,

while others inhabit

the same space,

Longing for a love that

asks no questions,

embracing struggles

with the paradox that

you, I, we, together go.


©Paul Vincent Cannon


Note: Gotterdammerung – the twilight of the gods, popularised by Richard Wagner in his ‘Ring Cycle.’


Paul, pvcann.com


 

			

	
	

		
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		May 3, 2020 · 3:01 pm	


	
Goons – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon
	

		
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Photo: thesun.co.uk   Some of the protesters in Michigan last week, these militia members claimed to be present and armed to keep the peace. Beggars belief. Freud said something about this behaviour.


 


“I don’t believe gun owners have rights.”  Sarah Brady


Goons


A man with a gun is

not necessarily a man

when he hides behind

coercive death,

dressed in god drag,

dangled with shibboleths,

like talismans,

voicing sulfur,

selling slogans of

repressed doubt,

choking on rancid,

illiterate apocalyptic,

Caterwauling goons

with no resemblance to

a crown of thorns.


©Paul Vincent Cannon


Paul, pvcann.com

			

	
	

		
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