.

Polarities

The only certain solidarity
among the Self-Reliant is the ease
with which their pride in insularity

is spoken of like some esteemed disease
they welcome to their homes: To seek a cure
would be a show of weakness to appease

the Socialists who want them to endure
the selfsame helpless frame of mind that other,
less independent, thinkers do. Too sure

of what it means to be a proper brother
to fellow humans, factions alternate
between unstinting willingness to smother

with kindness through the agents of the State
and what is sometimes called benign neglect,
but neither camp is eager not to hate

the opposition. Level heads suspect
they both are more concerned with wielding power
than bleeding for a principle—connect
the dots, and note the lateness of the hour!

first published in Think Journal (2008)

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.

C.B. Anderson was the longtime gardener for the PBS television series, The Victory Garden.  Hundreds of his poems have appeared in scores of print and electronic journals out of North America, Great Britain, Ireland, Austria, Australia and India.  His collection, Mortal Soup and the Blue Yonder was published in 2013 by White Violet Press.

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9 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Those in the enlightened middle get run over by the traffic going both ways in search of power, positions, and control. Perfect poem for the day prior to elections.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      The problem is that, when push comes to shove, the so-called “enlightened middle” tends to vote with the Left. They are too much into respectability, politeness, and good taste to vote Right.

      Reply
      • Roy Eugene Peterson

        I distinguish between “enlightened middle” and “moderate.” In my definition of “enlightened middle” I include: 1.) One who is educated and studies the issues. 2.) One who wholeheartedly supports the Constitution and rule of law and order. 3.) One who can think logically. 4.) One who conducts research. My list goes on, but those in the middle have all been pushed to the right and branded along with other conservatives by the encroaching left.

      • Joseph S. Salemi

        The left today runs essentially on emotion, which is why many politicians privately refer to them as “the screechy types.” And when your primary motivation is emotional, you don’t want people of the enlightened middle such as you describe. The left doesn’t trust those who believe in logic and the rule of law, and prefers to replace them with diehard fanatics.

        So yes — those enlightened middle types have been pushed into the conservative camp. But peer pressure and class snobbery still govern many of them, and they will vote for the left simply to distinguish themselves from those whom they consider “deplorables.”

        Many intelligent academics considered Harris to be a stupid and incompetent candidate. But they dutifully voted for her, because of their social disdain for MAGA partisans.

    • C.B. Anderson

      I’m glad, Roy, as I’m sure you are, that things turned out as they did, though I’m still waiting for the final Congressional results.

      Reply
  2. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    Beautifully conceived poetic wisdom. Sadly, I’ve entered the realm of “level heads” – I’m hopeful with the result of this election, but (sadly) believe it’s more selection than election… perhaps I shouldn’t have read “The Gulag Archipelago”. Thank you for challenging my perception, C.B. I always listen when the message is delivered in rhyme and rhythm.

    Reply
    • C.B. Anderson

      I don’t know what I was thinking back in 2008, Susan, and I’m not even sure, after rereading it several times, what the argument of this poem actually is. The syntax and the progression of ideas are just too complicated. The rhyme and rhythm are more or less pro forma.

      Reply
      • Joseph S. salemi

        That often happens with poets. A fan once asked Robert Browning about the meaning of a rather obscure line in one of his dramatic monologues. Browning answered “When I wrote that line only God and Robert Browning knew what it meant. I’m afraid that today only God knows what it means.”

      • C.B. Anderson

        Browning’s answer, Joseph, is one of the funniest things I have ever read.

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