Ecology in Mind
“Holiday Fluff”
Chris Koliba
| Revision History | ||
|---|---|---|
| • December 1991-January 1992 | Newspaper: Funded by Syracuse University students. | |
| The Alternative Orange: Vol. 1, No. 3 (pp. 9) | ||
| • August 30, 2000 | Webpage:  . | |
| DocBook XML (DocBk XML V3.1.3) from original. | ||
In the spirit self denigration i offer my renderings of what i like to call "instant rhetoric." Some of you may have grown up in a culture which calls these ditties "poems." If i go ahead and call them this, however, you will value, or de-value them for their poetry-ness. Frankly, i think that endeavor is a waste of time...
So here are a few things i have written in four minutes or less. I am sharing these for two reasons: 1.) i did not have the time, nor the motivation to write something confusing 2.) i would like to convey to all our loyal readers that this publication is committed to good art...
But before i commence with the tom-foolery let me qualify what i mean by "good art." After all, i am no artist or poet or even writer.
“i am...
a toad.”
Now doesn't this metaphor just float? Does it take you to places you've never been? Does it make you go hummmmm? Am i really a toad? Do i act like a toad? Do i behave like a toad? Do i eat like a toad?... "Good art" stimulates such thoughts.
With this being said, i present some instant rhetoric... We invite you, yes you, to send in your good art. But don't send us the "i am a toad" piece, it's already been published and the A.O. condemns plagiarism unless it's really well written.
To Play with an Elephant
We forget that in our play we are
at best
The most truthful
The least we can do is engage in
forms of tactile wonderment
and learn to laugh at ourselves
and play with sponge balls
instead of pointed spears and
Vicious words which stifle vision
and hone the skills of competition
Play with an elephant
and then drink a milkshake
for breakfast.
The Ecology of Metaphor
Storming the gates
of the enemy known
over a field
where ants live in peace
eating bits of ham
dropped during a warrior's repast.
Violence sustaining life
fires opening seeds
floods shifting nutrients.
There is no nature
nor culture
no truth in words,
Only symbols
whose metaphoric significance
possess meaning.
Mask's Betrayal
Sometimes your thoughts betray you
by creating an image of yourself
that is truly, how truly not you,
you claim to be a happy camper
who really wants to understand
why things are the way they are...
Love turned aside,
dug under a heap of game,
while playing is what matters.
Rules creating rules,
sensitivity confronting harshness.
Where does perception end,
and reality begin?
When does order not matter?
Why is control so addictive?
Questions asked beneath a mask
no one can see...
Quantum Gravity
Life is lived at the margins of uncertainty,
where the seam is seldom seen,
but always felt.
Confined by words
experienced in and of time,
spaced by the outline of fabric.
Wholely boxes,
filled with meaning
extending... beyond.
Breathing in an absurdity that redeems,
Exhaling peace
and sensuous creativity.
