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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1991-12-18, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18,1991. PAGE 5. Gh Arthur Black We have poets we just don't know it How beautifully useless, how deliciously defiant a poem is! Raymond So us ter Tell the truth, now - when's the last time you picked up a book of poetry? Yeah. Me too. I manage to wade through Macleans, Saturday Night, the Globe and Mail, my local paper - even a novel or two each week, but poetry? Sorry, no time. Part of the reason is of course that much modern poetry is so infuriatingly inaccessible. Here, for instance, is the last gasp of the final stanza of a Joe Rosenblatt poem: BUZZZZZZZ Bl/ZZZZZ Bt/ZZZZ BUZ ZZ The Short of It By Bonnie Gropp Somebody has to be first to stop It's really hard to take less. As the steamroller of yuppiedom, flattened humanity's common sense approach to materialism, letting selfishness blossom in its wake, society began to look at life and ask, "What do you have for me?" Then when we got the answer, we wanted more. The scary reality today, is that the wholq issue of wanting more, has become one steeped more in necessity than in desire, as economic hardships have caused people to fight for all they can get. To suggest that someone lake less, is not only asking a lot, but could prove hazardous to your health as the ability to eke out a living is, for some, becoming a daily fight for survival. Beset by unemployment, lower incomes and higher taxes, everyone is understandably concerned and looking for someone to make it right. Everyone will be more than relieved to see a solution and many have an idea where to start. However, few would be willing to take the first step, which will inevitably lead to self-sacrifice. Like a child who takes the last of the dessert because he doesn't want his sibling to have more, we could not turn down a raise we could get by without, if someone else had gotten one. Thus, the recent discussion of Blyth councillors at their inaugural meeting was an uplifting one. The municipality's elected representatives looked at the depressing situation facing the taxpayers, and talked at length about solutions, such as the feasibility of a tax freeze and the possibility of salary cuts for themselves. New councillor John Elliott stated that the buck has to stop somewhere and change must begin somewhere. The That may be tremendously meaningful to Joe Rosenblatt. It may even be kinda fun to watch him “perform” it in front of, say, the Hamilton Steelworkers Annual Christmas Party. But Shakespeare it ain't. A lot of modem poetry seems to be little more than cerebral foreplay between the author and his or her own consciousness. Too bad. As Robertson Davies says “Poetry is undoubtedly a serious business ... but the world also needs its entertainers, its bards, who remind us that poetry was not always a question of printed pages, hidden meanings, and dismal intellectual gropings; there was a time when poetry was for everybody, and had some fun in it.” I think Joseph Brodsky would second that. Mister Brodsky is a Soviet emigre who was kicked out of the U.S.S.R. 22 years ago because his poems infuriated the Politburo. Brodsky picked himself up, dusted himself off and moved to the U.S. Last summer the Americans honoured him with the title of U.S. Poet Laureate. Brodsky is an old-style poet. The kind who thinks poems ought to be read by everyone, not just weedy academics and neo-Beatnik wannabes. And he just might do something about it. Brodsky told a Washington audience recently that poetry ought to be sold in sentiments were affirmed and echoed by the most of his colleagues. In cutting back on the salary they, as representatives of the people, could Councillor Elliott said, send a message to others. That message, should council stick to it, is one of the few positive ones delivered by politicians. Prior to the meeting, the pastor, who delivered the blessing, reminded the councillors that people no longer trust politicians. Should this council proceed with the plan, they not only display integrity, but may inspire more of the same in others. As well, the move provides council with ammunition, because only when one has made a sacrifice is one in a position to demand the same from others. Huron County council, too, made a O.P.P RIDE program underway The Ontario Provincial Police, in conjunction with other Police Services across the province, launched the 1991 Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (R.I.D.E.) campaign Dec. 1. The five- week campaign concludes Jan. 4. During last year's campaign, more than 302,000 vehicles were checked by the OPP. More than 900, 12-hour licence suspensions were issued and 462 alcohol-related charges were laid. Unfortunately, 48 fatal accidents during the holiday period resulted in 57 deaths on OPP patrolled roadways. In comparison, again on OPP patrolled roadways during 1989, there were more than 850, 12- hour licence suspensions issued and more than 600 alcohol-related charges laid. There were 70 fatal accidents in the 1989 holiday period resulting in 80 deaths. Drivers who drink may have their driving privileges suspended for 12 hours or, if charged and convicted, face a minimum $300 fine and one-year licence suspensions for a first offence. The maximum fine for a first offence can include a $2,000 fine and may entail a six month jail sentence plus a three-year licence suspension. A second offence results in a minimum two-year licence suspension and a minimum 14 days in jail. For each subsequent offence, there is a minimum three-year licence suspension and a minimum of a 90-day stay in jail. Impaired driving causing bodily harm can result in a prison term and a 10-year licence suspension. Impaired driving causing death can end up in a 14-year prison term and a licence suspension for life. Those are just the statistics and the legal consequences. Drinking and driving results in untold suffering and bereavement, and there is the guilt of knowing holiday drinking killed someone else during the festive season. Don't drink and drive. Appoint a designated sober driver or take public transport. Enjoy the season safely by not endangering yourself and others. supermarkets and left in every motel room, right to the Gideon Bible. “The Bible won't mind this” he explained. “It doesn't mind being next to the telephone book.” He'd also like to see racks of poetry books available at the comer drug store. “Poems are cheaper than tranquilizers and reading them may reduce the bill from your shrink.” Rising to the moment, Brodsky declared “Poetry is perhaps the only insurance we've got against the vulgarity of the human heart, and it should be available to everyone at low cost.” Well, it’s not an entirely original thought. One of our own poets, Irving Layton, once wrote: “If the walls that separate people from people are ever pulled down, it will not be done by politicians or dictators. It will be done by poets.” I don't think it would hurt if we broadened our definition of ‘poet’ either. Bruce Cockbum is a Canadian poet. So is k d lang, Gordon Lightfoot, Rita MacNeil ... and Wayne Gretzky. That's not an original thought either. One of Brodsky's excompatriots, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, once visited these shores and announced: “I say the best Canadian poet is Phil Esposito.” Then he added thoughtfully “And that is not a joke.” I say: Stompin Tom Connors for Canadian Poet Laureate. And I'm only joking a little bit. start at the November meeting, by recommending that the new council freeze their salary and expense allotments for the year. Like Blyth council, they realize a move must be made and the theory of do as I do, should have more impact than do as I say. While one county representative felt that the move might backfire, as councillors might vote a higher increase a few years from now so they could catch up with other councils which had taken smaller raises each year, he added that if it would inspire county staff to take less, "it might be worth it." It's difficult to turn down something we feel we may be entitled to. But, rewards come in many different ways and if taking a loss means earning respect, it's a sacrifice everyone should be willing to make. Letter from the Editor By Keith Roulston A gift that the world really needs If I could give one gift to everybody in the world this Christmas it would be a sense of personal responsibility. Giving that gift would make a lot of the problems in the world disappear. We've spent most of the last few decades talking about human rights to the point where human responsibilities have been overlooked. Most of the problems we now face are due to people thinking of their rights first, and not thinking about the flip side of the argument: that everybody has a responsibility to his or her fellows. The whole men/women debate that is now dominating the newspapers and airwaves would be irrelevant, for instance, if each man respected and acted responsibly to each woman. Violence against women? Date rape? Sexual harassment? Would any of these be a problem if men were just responsible and acted like civilized humans? We all have a responsibility to treat each other as we would like to be treated ourselves. Our rights don't include using physical, emotional or economic power to force others to do what we want them to do. But our responsibilities also go to helping others. We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers. Much of the crime and violence in the world comes from frustrated individuals who don't think they can get a fair break in the world by playing by the rules of society that seem to be stacked against them so steal, or just lash out in angry, violent ways. If those of us who are doing well don't take our responsibility to help those who need help, we are promoting the very violence we abhor. If Canadians had taken their responsibilities more seriously over the years, our country wouldn’t be in the mess it is today. We have a responsibility to think what it would be like in the other person's position: to walk a mile in his or her moccasins as the old Indian saying goes. We've been too willing to sit in our various isolated outposts across the country and not make the effort to know what the arguments of the West, the natives or Quebecers were. If we had each listened, if we had worked to understand each other, we wouldn't have the huge walls of misunderstanding that now seem ready to tear the country apart. Government overspending? If we all were more responsible about our demands on government, we wouldn't have the huge deficit we have. How many times have you known someone who said they didn't really need a grant or their unemployment insurance or some other government service, but they'd been paying enough all these years that they figured they deserved to get their share? I wish we could all regain the sense of responsibility to our community that people once had and that helped build our present communities. We need to realize that if we don't care about our communities, nobody else will. We can't afford the big city attitude that somebody else will do it. The somebody elses who have been doing it for so long are getting worn out and they need the help of everyone to keep the community going. I'd like to be able to give a sense of responsibility to people about where they shop. People must begin to realize that if they take most of their shopping dollars out of their home community, there soon won't be stores to shop in at home. On the other hand, we who are in business must have a sense of responsibility to our customers to give them as close to city services and prices as we can. We're 4II so small and the problems are so big, but the big problems as just the sum of all the little problems we cause by acting irresponsibly. Making the world better this Christmas, begins with each of us.