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“In the very end, civilizations perish because they listen to their politicians and not their poets.”
Jonas Mekas
I dare wonder if anyone in a certain group in the US Capitol have ever heard a poem. Sure, they may have some highlighted verses of a psalm, but have they ever read even the poetic parts of the Bible as poetry and not a handbook? Signs point to no.
And since I like a good list:
People civilizations should not listen to:
Politicians
Lawyers
Car salesmen
Television preachers
TikTokers who start their videos with “Watch before “they” take this down…”
“They” in any form
Anyone who thinks you (your time and attention) are the product.
People civilizations should listen to:
Poets in general (Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, Amanda Gorman, and Maya Angelou in particular)
Yoga instructors with small studios
Kindergarten teachers
Your local butcher
The local HEB cashier
- Welcome to my latest exercise in an attempt to reach my goal of being a prolific writer in 2025. So, in addition to writing 1 short story each week (Because Ray Bradbury said you can’t write 52 bad ones – challenge accepted!) I will post an entry from my Commonplace book and a short note on why the quote spoke to me on that day. I can hear you now – sucky stories and random quotes? Sign me up.
- For more information about the blogging challenge, see http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/)
The Story Factory 
I can wonder the same about political leaders here in Europe, are they at all open (willing? able?) to take in any artform that speaks about ‘people’, what it means to be a human being, what ‘life’ is. I would also like to see younger generations being more listened to, I am more and more losing hope in the ‘boomers’ (me being one of them).
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