As/Is

6.21.2016

An Immigrant Responds

I've noticed that many of the voices in the republic who loudly demanded in the run up to the last referendum that Scotland vote to leave the Union they'd been part of for three centuries, for an unnatural land border to be created, and for the island of Britain to be partitioned; are the exact same voices that have about turned and are now just as loudly demanding the UK remain in the European Union they've been part of for only four decades.

In 2014 they were banging on about how Scotland was an independent country and very much looking back to a rosy cliche of Scotland as a one dimensional shortbread tin place, invoking Culloden and the past in a very positive and nationalistic way. Yet now we are told by the same people that anyone who supports leave is a racist little Englander looking back to a rosy place that can no longer exist in the 21C.

Many of them are using the refugee crisis to get cheap digs in against our neighbour, posting diatribes, memes, and pictures of right wing English loons, instead of doing summat more positive and productive like demanding the refugees come here to safety in the Republic of Ireland, where there's twelve times less people than in Britain, and lots more room for them.

The same pseudo-political luvvies who were banging on about how unfair the un-elected Commission, and what they were then calling a dictatorship of Europe, was to Ireland after the economic crash of 2008, are now suddenly big fans of the EU; getting their rocks off using the upcoming referendum to indulge in one of their favourite cultural sports. Brit bashing.

This inconsistency and reversal of position from advocating for breakaway independent nation states to European federalism, has led me to wonder: could it be that what is really driving these loud anti-English voices to get involved in the sovereign decisions of the neighbouring isle when posting all their scaremongering pictures and memes, is not a genuinely helpful desire and consistent political position, nor giving two hoots about what is best for the people of Europe, Britain or Scotland; but a lingering age old latent cultural enmity toward the English common in some of the over 40s here. Inculcated into society and culture over three generations by Eamon de Valera and his gang of religious nutbags.

Who, let's not forget, before the great hero murdered by his own people, Michael Collins, had even returned to Dublin with the best deal for independence he and the team that Dev handpicked to parlay with the most able of the British empire, could negotiate - decided, without even having met Collins off the boat and read the proposal, solely through his jealously of the younger man, to bring about the sin and stain of the Irish civil war. All over a form of words he swore he would 'wade through rivers of Irishmen's blood' rather than utter.

Then, ten years later, after his destructive antics had left him sidelined from public life, the great dictator Dev u-turned, went into parliamentary politics, swore an oath to the King that he previously instigated the civil war over; and proceeded to sell out every single ideal of the republic's founding Proclamation once in power.

With absolutely no input from the Brits, Dev set about reducing the status of Irish women to little more than the property of their husbands, using the bully pulpit of church and state to name, shame, surveil, brainwash, and control through fear the Irish people; imprisoned all his former comrades in arms who disagreed with him, banned from publication in Ireland all her greatest writers, created the state slave and sex abuse factories into which were tossed anyone transgressing the sickeningly hypocritical morals of the ultra-dysfunctional Church; making Ireland a laughing stock, and treating the country as his own private fiefdom.

Spending the rest of his life making sure there was total silence about the crimes of the civil war, state and church, and deflecting all the silent unexpressed hatred for the contemporary crimes of church and state he was responsible for creating, onto the English, by playing the role of whinging victim and concentrating the focus of the national mind onto the historical injustices the English had visited upon Ireland, with the mantra of eight hundred years, eight hundred years.

I have not seen one post from the 'eight hundred years' crowd using the refugee crisis to bash the Brits, calling for the Republic of Ireland to take in refugees. Plenty of posts demonsing the English and using refugees as the excuse to do so, but nothing by way of concrete proposals, or even calls, to welcome refugees over here. Not one.

Why?

Don't they want refugees here?

The numbers of asylum seekers and conditions these poor frightened people escaping terror in their homelands are more or less jailed in when they arrive in the republic, certainly suggest that we the citizens of the republic should look at our own cultural faults and flaws first, before finding easy and cheap ways to creatively engage in playing the victim of the British empire at every opportunity and slagging off the auld (English) enemy.

OK, we all get the eight hundred years bit, but none of us alive now in the republic younger than ninety-five ever lived under British rule. And this aside, what did they ever do for us anyway? Apart from give us our infrastructure, law, English language and Anglophile culture?

'Eight hundred years, eight hundred years.' You don't hear the French and Germans dwelling on and moaning about far worse, and far more recent historical injustices. So, do us a favour, moaning Brit bashers; get over yourselves, and start practicing what you claim to preach in your whinging anti-English diatribes. Please. Thanks very much.

Grá agus síocháin.

posted by Coirí Filíochta on Tuesday, June 21, 2016

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6.19.2016

Yudu love the summer...

Images saved from Yudu: Stoning the Devil: Apparition Poem 1180, Stoning the Devil: Apparition Poem 1519, moria poetry Equations, Ode On Exile, Self-Portrait: The Vessel, Song For Maria Gingerich, Sharkforum: Philly Free School Presents, PhillySound: Highwire Show, Philadelphia City Paper: Poetry Incarnation '05. 

posted by Adam Fieled on Sunday, June 19, 2016

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6.14.2016

Kendall Jenner: Mortified

posted by Adam Fieled on Tuesday, June 14, 2016

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6.06.2016

To Baudelaire: October 1996

Mama’s boy! Compassionate,

ridiculous, dandified cunt!

Right minded, wrongheaded,

unwed slave and parasite!

No poets go to Hell— God

be with you, vulgar and

adorable prick! May your

tarted up, ice-pick nose-pick tales

grow into a grin in the ether!

You immortal artist you—

we remember, who have

been in New Jersey at midnight,

no girls, nothing to do,

sitting through thunders, hurricanes,

what it is to be bored, “to ennui”—

to sling a black coat over our

shoulders, stroll streets in paroxysms,

then into ecstasy, devilish slumbers,

out again into the ocean— we remember thee.

posted by Adam Fieled on Monday, June 06, 2016

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Revelation from Holmes Hall: October 1996

I escaped a father I hated, broke

from Moses, his Commandments,

shunned synagogue machinery,

slipped past esoteric Torah, hid

in recesses of a flat white satin

wall (Jennifer, her loins), dreamed

our future for the Universe—

I fathered a Bible-less expanse,

yellow leaves fell, rain coated,

I dawdled, fumbled, waited for

lightning or roses, circles drew

me back to implore these roots:

Buddha, Yahweh, Adonai, Christ,

Mohammed, the escaped father

lives, impersonal, diurnal, this

the refuse of his wisdom I partake

of, dreaming no future for myself

past what modes of suffering are

encompassed outside a third-story

window on a night when Jennifer

rounds the Universe off to a third, out—    

posted by Adam Fieled on Monday, June 06, 2016

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Architecture and the Weight of Centuries

As to what constitutes the most profound, durable form of human progress— certainly, most educated people would place emphasis, if asked, on the higher disciplines: science, philosophy, high art, and architecture. The kind of work which constitutes the most profound, durable form of progress in these disciplines has, as a constituent element, what I call the weight of centuries effect. What I call the weight of centuries effect is self-evident in the work— an attempt to assimilate into the work, the influence and gravitas of all that has been accomplished in the respective discipline before, going back not just decades but centuries. If this is what constitutes human progress, it needs to be acknowledged that a huge chunk of modern human society is the avowed enemy of human progress. The modern press corps, for example— who express their avowed stance as enemies of human progress by running away, screaming, from any high discipline work with the weight of centuries effect inhering. The press subsist, essentially, to produce what I call a “wall of horseshit” effect (conversely), and the wall of frivolous, ephemeral horseshit is there to lead the populace, often subconsciously, to the realization that there is not nor ever can be any profound human progress, no weight of centuries. The darker side of the human race and the human continuum demand that the entire surface of human life, in fact, be a wall of horseshit, and all profound progress hidden. As I’ve begun to understand architecture, and the architectural dimension of human life from Philadelphia, one of the great architectural masterwork cities of the world, and a city whose high sector affiliations tower over other American metropolis/suburb areas, I put PFS/Neo-Romanticism and our achievements resolutely on the architectural side of things.

In fact, architecture is useful in establishing a demarcative line between weight of centuries material in the high disciplines and everything else. Being on the side of the demarcative line we are on, it behooves us to be realistic about what we can expect. PFS has, in-built, some Hollywood-level sex appeal to offer; the photos attest to it; leading some to wonder why the media will not cover us. The reason is simple: as the avowed enemies of human progress, the press note the architectural bias of our work— the weight of centuries effect— and run screaming in the other direction. If the press are to erect the wall of horseshit they need to erect for themselves, with the specific intention of outright denial of weight of centuries/human progress, everything associated with architecture has to be an anathema, our sex appeal be damned. Party politics can be like this on the surface, too— not the weight of centuries, the weight of pure, totalized evanescence. So, these are the wages of an architectural bias for the Philly Free School; weight of centuries signifies that we will have to be ploughed over in favor of evanescent trash on the surface by the enemies of human progress. The weight of centuries demarcative line is very stringent about this. On the other hand, we have the peace of mind of knowing that no one can accuse us of selling out, or selling cheap. It also needs to be noted that the wall of horseshit approach to the surface of human life is not going anywhere; is, in fact, intransigently built into human history.

One of the reasons that a movement like Neo-Romanticism must grow incrementally— the opposition will always try to rig things so that it can never generate any real momentum. Neither the press corps, nor the party politicians want momentum to develop behind any work with the weight of centuries insignia inscribed onto it, which is the insignia of genuine human progress. Momentum, invariably, is for evanescent trash, some of which can stand as a simulacrum of weight of centuries work, but never the real thing (and, as is sinister, both the press corps and the party politicians do know the difference). As per the opposition: are they people, you might ask, or are they amoebas? One thinks swiftly of Swift, and is grateful for some of his literary incisions. Who cares? The right buildings, including here on Fayette Street in Conshohocken, exude their own kind of sentience among the perceptive sectors of the human race, impose their own standards and ethos and make their own demands. Architecture, as a secret powerhouse in human society, may have its emergence in some sectors facilitated by PFS. However much momentum may be allowed to accumulate, all of it will be directed towards getting a wider audience to note weight of centuries level work, and not the simulacrum of same. Keats, Bach, and Rubens rather than Shakespeare, Mozart, and Rembrandt— the first tier being ranked first, right on the surface. I will not attempt to conceal that Neo-Romanticism maintains an avenging angel attitude towards the enemies of human progress, and weight of centuries. Whenever we can afford to fuck the bad guys over, and push the architectural up, we will do so; let momentum fall where it may.

posted by Adam Fieled on Monday, June 06, 2016

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6.05.2016

Basement: Philadelphia Museum of Art: Summer 1996

Art, it would seem, is a nice way of

saying that everything resides in hell—

the pictures are anguish— the negatives,

hiding somewhere, ecstasy.

Pictures mounted on plain grey walls.

Slow viewers puzzle themselves; sashay,

bug-like, into corners. I am not,

unfortunately, basking in the open glow of

abundant creativity, but am thrashed

by a sense of impotence. How do I

let the images in? The blonde over

there: does she do penance by giving

head? Fractions, pinpoints of light distill

from low ceiling— footsteps, cacophony

of breaths being drawn. Eyes of an

artist, mine of a bloodhound. Staid types sniff the walls.

Art, it would seem, is

a nice way of saying that everyone

resides in hell— the people are anguish—

the angels, hiding somewhere, ecstasy.

posted by Adam Fieled on Sunday, June 05, 2016

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Room 510, Atherton Hilton, State College: July 1996

Lightning illuminates the pale sky; rain

on the leaves sounds like waves. Snakes

rattle across the Earth, hold themselves

erect under the onslaught. Your body,

Jennifer— lax against a pillow, aghast

at the finality of clouds. Lampshades

are tan mushrooms— wallets stuffed

with obscure currencies. Some stray

Ruth may (later) come to wound me.

Swim for your life, junk-in-the-veins

Narcissus— Rimbaud is just a button

to push, guided by voices or not. Our

face of passion is one we had before we were born. 

posted by Adam Fieled on Sunday, June 05, 2016

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6.04.2016

Nefertiti (College Avenue, State College, September 1996)

To the blonde, cigarette dangling from

red lips in the blue Chevette— in a past life

I courted you in Egypt, we danced, your

neck like Nefertiti’s as furiously we made

love— lived together, also, in Pompeii, & your

volcanic thighs took me sky-high. Now, here

you are again, pale cool flat diamond

eyed, I am ravishing you, we never think

of New Jersey, murder, mortuaries, what’s

ugly, fleeting, as the light goes green it

is all in the set-ness of your face forever—

frissons, fireworks in someone’s mind.

posted by Adam Fieled on Saturday, June 04, 2016

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Kendall Jenner: Breathing, No

posted by Adam Fieled on Saturday, June 04, 2016

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6.03.2016

Intro: Photography Presentation: Jeremy Eric Tenenbaum: October 6, 2006: Olde City Philadelphia

Imagine a man. He dips a finger into the filthy Schuylkill & comes up Adonis. Or, a Manayunk side street finds him staring Acteon-like at some omnipotent Diana, teeth gleaming in the crepuscular atmosphere.

Imagine a man. He is the heart & soul of the soulful, beer-soaked bar, reveling in quips his wits are too fast for, taking in bitter, ham-fisted stories of love lost, found & regained. This is a man who can listen.

Jeremy. Imagine a Jeremy. This man for whom art is like air, for whom humanity is beyond cruelty & joking, for whom the savor of the gold-speckled past is equaled only by future nights staring at diaphanously gowned girls.

Imagine Jeremy with a camera. This is a kind of sex for him, a kind of yoga, a yoking of the creative imagination to the fact of our flesh, that may sag, or glisten, or sag and glisten, or, having sagged, suddenly glisten under the camera’s eye.

Imagine pictures. They are limned with the light of soul-baring honesty, the rawest form of candor, the privileged position of an unprivileged spectator—that is, a sensitive spectator sans imposing ego. These are pictures of people, unmediated by art.

Only it is art. The artifice is all in the angles—how a smile reveals a desire to be fondled, how a pose means such-and-such knows everything there is to know about Siouxsie & the Banshees, or the Cure, or the Fixx.

Get a fix here. A fix of real human beings being real in real pictures taken by a real man at the height of his “seeing” power; a fix of sensuality for people with brains, who can unite the signifier, in all its’ nuanced glory, with the signified.

There is no disjuncture here between sign and meaning. These people speak for themselves, just by being naked, or half-naked, or a bit naked. It is the dialect of desire that powers streetcars & other vehicles.

Let this show be a vehicle for you. When it’s over, you will find yourself sodden with the musty soak of the filthy Schuylkill. You will have seen Diana, without having to become a stag; the pictures will “stag” you, right where you come. Home.

posted by Adam Fieled on Friday, June 03, 2016

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6.02.2016

Song for Maria Gingerich: State College: 1998

My scarlet letter let you in
     We rallied on our separate beds
         The way to blue was flushed with ice
              Your tongue possesses everything

(lighten my,
watch my,
  blow my)

                        In any case the case is closed
                  We walk the streets, a trackless train
              My verdant prayer is your own skin
         I can't believe I'm free again

Relax—

Ice yr drink—

Think—

Pursue a purpose, lost in flame
     Become the scum you dote on, crab,
          The sky, the ground, the square you are
                The realm of flesh is one lone purge...

mercy        mercy      mercy
     mercy                mercy

posted by Adam Fieled on Thursday, June 02, 2016

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