I initially wrote "Hole" as a lineated poem, but when asked to submit to Hunger Mountain's concrete poetry issue, I got the idea to make the poem circular. Not only does the circle resemble a hole, but the spiral helps to represent the descent as one digs deeper. I'm happy to say "Hole" appeared in the aforementioned concrete poetry issue & many years afterward in Hunger Mountain's anniversary issue.
"Hole" also appears in Here's How, runner-up in Pudding House's chapbook competition, as well as my 2nd full-length collection, Walking in Chicago with a Suitcase in My Hand, runner-up in the poetry competition held by Knut House Press, which published the book alongside photos by Riley A. Vann. Knut House, much to my chagrin, folded a couple of years after the publication of my book & thus was quickly rendered out of print. The good news is Half Inch Press recently issued a text-only reprint of Walking in Chicago with a reprint of the illustrated edition in the works.
The audio of "Hole" that appears in Home Planet 25 is courtesy of the "Not Somewhere Else But Here" episode of Books Unbound that aired on WFHB in Indiana. It may sound silly, but it was an absolute thrill hearing my poem over the radio. Many thanks to the performers at Books Unbound & in particular a dear old friend in Bloomington, even though I wonder if I should say that since, truth be told, I'm slightly older.
You know, it occurs to me that maybe I should've included a warning with its publication--as I often did at public readings--that staring at the poem for prolonged periods may result in hypnosis. Ha! imagine if I could hypnotize you & coerce you into doing stuff you'd never dream of doing like, I don't know, buying my books maybe . . .
Speaking of, "Night at the Improv, C. 1600" also appears in Walking in Chicago with a Suitcase in My Hand & Here's How. The idea for the poem came several centuries later than the title might suggest, sometime in the early 2000s while reading my then teenage son's middle school science book. You see, as a conscientious parent, I wanted to ensure he was taught the theory of evolution, which, thankfully, he was--though the book included an intelligent design theory section as well--but I digress. The part of the textbook I was reading that day dealt with the early modern period, specifically achievements of the Scientific Revolution.
I wrote the poem, with the exception of a few tweaks, in a single writing, as if dictated by Thalia, Erato, Clio, & Co. Honestly, at the risk of sounding all Horatio Hornblower about it, I don't know anyone who doesn't like "Night at the Improv, C. 1600," but on the off chance you don't, fat as that may be, I hope you'll extend the common courtesy--not merely to me but to the gracious & glorious Muses--of keeping your bullsh*t opinion to yourself.
Anyway, fast-forwarding to 2020, the poem took on new meaning during the l*ckdown.
However much you might believe that C*vid needed to be grabbed by the short & curlies to control its spread, the policies enacted by the geographically-challenged collective West were, in the most generous terms, Authoritarian. It seems to me there should be zero argument about this point, outside whether Authoritarian should be spelled with a capital A or not. As in the Inquisition, the free exchange of ideas, if not outright banned, was unwelcome & often met with swift punishment. For example, those who said the virus came from a lab, who doubted the wisdom or efficacy of masks (mask hysteria, if you ask me), who spoke out against the l*ckdown & its m*ndates, who suggested alternative methods of treatment should be explored, & indeed, broadly, anyone perceived as expressing skepticism or an opinion that questioned the rationality of the policies were condemned as knuckle-walking heretics by the Cult of Scientism (which, by the way, has about as much to do with actual science as boxing--the sweet science--or this). As such, these pagans needed to be muzzled (deplatformed, if not censored), excommunicated (fired from jobs, businesses closed), imprisoned (imprisoned!), & otherwise vilified (labeled N*zis, Tr*mpers, sociop*ths, m*rd*rers, etc.) before getting burned at the stake (of public opinion), their property seized & bank accounts frozen.
One could argue, as many do, that "something had to be done," yet that doesn't mean the steps taken were right, much less the best approach. For the record, I advocated the Great Barrington Declaration. Quarantining healthy people who were at very low risk didn't make sense. Besides, if those dicks in DC truly cared about the lives of the citizenry (a rhetorical statement because obviously they don't), why not institute universal health care? After all, it's not as if heart disease, cancer, & other life-threatening health issues went on hiatus out of deep-abiding reverence for C*vid. In fact, many health problems, both physical & psychological, were elevated because of the l*ckdown, a self-defeating policy, as it turns out, if the health of the citizenry was its purpose (see above).
Alas & alack, I shouldn't have to say this, but since this issue is extremely politicized, I am not now nor have I ever been a Tr*mp supporter. The way I see it, Tr*mp is the worst president since B*den, who was the worst president since Tr*mp, & so forth in that manner ad nauseam. Some seem to forget (since it doesn't support the narrative) that Tr*mp thrust F*uci (who, like a stereotypical cult leader, once proclaimed criticism of him was really a criticism of science, I sh*t you not) upon us as our non-elected overseer. Moreover, it was Trump who first imposed the l*ckdown upon us. He also implemented Operation W*rp Speed, whose name alone, virtually lifted with Silly Putty from Star Trek, might hint at the lack of serious concern the power elites actually had about C*vid. Well, that & the fact they were constantly caught doing whatever the f*ck they wanted, whenever they wanted, despite their unflinching support of the draconian policies imposed upon the rest of us.
Years later, of course, we know Galileo was right. Even the Church admits it, though it took over 300 years to say so. Extrapolate from that what you will. In the meantime, enjoy the poems!
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