Poetry As A Political Alternative.

"Rimbaud," she shouted at me

And I failed to see how this

French fop had changed anything

Except the way gay people write

"Baudelaire," she shouted again

Me sifting through the literature

Finding nothing revolutionary

The guy was a syphilitic sponge

A maudlin dandy without

Political or artistic intent

"But Aesthetics is a force of change..."

Oh you sad person, when,

Tell me when has any aesthetic ideal

Forced political change
In any way shape or form?

"Surrealism," she whispered

Bullshit, I said -

Andre Breton and the Surrealists

Were riding on the coat tails of

True revolutionary left wing politics

Forging new forms in art to be sure

But in society: NO

Because poor people don't read poetry

At least not the poetry written by the rich

By rich privileged wankers who control

Who the poor are and where they can live

Did reading Rimbaud ever give a black man

Freedom? I don't think so.

But maybe if he had

He might understand

What it is to be a slave.

© shaun patrick green