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Jargon

The devil will manipulate,
through jargoneers who fabricate
non sequitur profundity
tuned with the proper frequency
that will, before you realize,
infect your mind and hypnotize
with phrases such as “Love is love,”
which is the best example of
how bumper-sticker jargoneers
can craft a phrase that interferes
with thoughts formed in a once sane brain
that now is captured by inane
quotes that sound great if you dispense
with every ounce of common sense.

For “Love is love” is just as true
as if they wrote that “Blue is blue,”
and just as useless since you’ll find
that what love means is not defined.
And who would say they’re not “Pro Choice,”
although there are some with no voice
and we know what they would have said,
but someone chose for them instead.
And “Girls need boys like fish need bikes”
is meaningless but still it strikes
a chord in just the perfect key
that resonates in harmony
with all the anger that came from
old frictions some can’t overcome.

But wisdom that is truly wise
is very hard to summarize
in bumper stickers stuck on chrome,
or put on posters hung at home,
which means we must work to resist
and lamely say we’ll “coexist”
or latch on to another quote
that’s clever, but some flunky wrote
to earn a paycheck, not impart
words meant to truly change each heart.
But hearts will change in ways profound
if we’ll just harken to the sound
of every single quote we’ve heard
that leads us to a holy word.

.

.

Warren Bonham is a private equity investor who lives in Southlake, Texas.

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18 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Warren, you are the master of long compelling sentences. Talcott Parsons would be proud. How great are the thoughts expressed of aphorisms that are arcane and misleading tautologies and nonsense! There is a lot to praise in every phase.

    Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      Thanks! I still need to dig into Talcott Parsons. I’m a fan of anyone who likes run-on sentences.

      Reply
  2. Russel Winick

    Warren, your message is compelling, and the rhyme and meter are spectacular! Great job!

    Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      I’m very glad you enjoyed it! This one was fun to write.

      Reply
  3. Cynthia L Erlandson

    There is so much wisdom here, Warren — and a lot of catharsis, for me anyway — those signs drive me crazy! Not only is “love is love” a tautology, but, as you observe, it isn’t defined; it may be the most abused word there is, although “choice” may be abused just as much. Those who call themselves “pro-choice” are actually anti-choice about many things, as you’ve succinctly noted. Great job!

    Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      Slick little sayings sound really catchy but the common ones are really used just to shut people up. Who could possibly be opposed to “choice” or “love” or “coexisting”? I’m glad you liked this one!

      Reply
  4. Margaret Coats

    Especially the first stanza, Warren, sounds like a Gilbert and Sullivan song. The rhythm is good all the way through, of course. The second stanza goes more deeply into the illogic of some sayings, while the third explicitly reveals jargon versus wisdom as your subject. I notice the third (quoting the most problematic bumper sticker “coexist”) is the only stanza that has a period, signaling the way to wisdom enunciated in the last four lines. True to the message of the piece, you wisely do not claim to pronounce wisdom–only to suggest an escape from jargon. By the end, we have a good working description of it!

    Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      That’s a great analysis of the piece. I struggled with how to bring it home at the end. Jargon has been used as a means to control us. It has nothing to do with truth or wisdom – it very often has a darker motivation. We need to find a way to escape from it.

      Reply
  5. Joseph S. Salemi

    The poem paints a good satiric picture of modern jargon, in nicely rhyming tetrameter couplets. A great deal of contemporary non-thought expresses itself through catchwords, dogwhistles, and glib phrases.

    However, I think your poem is spoiled by the last four lines, which come across as a tacked-on note of Bible-thumping piety. Saying that hearts will change, and alluding to scriptural quotes, is conventionally saccharine. You don’t end satire with a disguised prayer.

    Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      I appreciate the feedback. The last four lines were an attempt to link back to the opening line but I can see your point. The last four lines can use some additional polishing

      Reply
      • Frank Rable

        Not that I want to agree with Mr. Salemi, but you could drop the last four lines. Your poem was so good and you didn’t need to end it on an upbeat. You had spoken your truth.

        My God, that nonsense does slip in, doesn’t it. Never mind, you done good Mac. And I really can’t blame you for wanting to end it with some optimism. But no, save that for another poem.

        You are fighting the good fight for the English language. Keep it up. Literally? No figuratively, of course.

        How about a poem about electioneering jargon? As in, fight, stand up to, take on, not on my watch, and other such bullshit. You know you want to.

  6. jd

    Loved the entire poem, Warren, especially the final resolution which to my mind is the only antidote to what the world has become.

    Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      I’m totally aligned with you in terms of there being one source of truth and wisdom. Jargon has been used strategically to keep us from discovering that.

      Reply
  7. Mike Bryant

    Warren, your poem is sharp and skillfully written, with a strong critique of how slogans can manipulate and oversimplify. I like the way you point out the tension between catchy phrases and deeper meaning, and how you explore that tension.

    In a comment above you said, “Jargon has been used as a means to control us. It has nothing to do with truth or wisdom – it very often has a darker motivation. We need to find a way to escape from it.”

    I found myself reflecting on your final lines because many, if not most, of those who proclaim the very jargon you critique are the spiritually proud members of organized religion.

    Reply
    • Joseph S. Salemi

      Mike, a great many of the mainstream established churches are now in the hands of the liberal-left, and function as an amen-corner for globalism, socialism, and progressivist talking points. The latest conquest is my own religion, which has been pretty much absorbed, in its human and earthly institutional aspect, into this tsunami of bullshit-spouting.

      Reply
    • Warren Bonham

      I wish I could disagree with you, but much of the jargon does seem to originate there. That crowd seems to worship the word “love”, but their working definition is really just being nice to everyone and tolerating anything. They can also be some of the most hate-filled people around if they sense that you disagree with their approach. None of that seems very biblical but it is extraordinarily influential.

      Reply
  9. Gigi Ryan

    Dear Warren,
    You have hit the nail on the head throughout. Thank you for a sober read that does not leave us without hope.
    Gigi

    Reply

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