Leny M. Strobel
A Process Note:
Meditating on the title of the poem, the word that stood out for me is plasticity. Plastic. Oil. Fossil fuel. Resource Extraction. Fracking. Fracked World. As we have lived in the Empire of oil in the past century and have reaped its supposed benefits, it is also beginning to dawn on us that we have exceeded the limits of what the Earth can provide in its own biological time. Paul Erhlich in Human Natures writes that our cultural evolution has outpaced the biological evolution of the Earth. So here we are: our capacity for recognition filtered thru plasticity becomes a way to Forgetting.
Eileen conjures images in this poem that speak of both the light and dark of recognition. There is Beauty still in spite of the shadows. But with bombs falling on Iraq and Gaza, I am filled with Grief. And I pray for Rain.
—12 AUG 2014
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  I   Not You?   Not We?   Why not?   Therefore,   Unfrack me. |   Forgot   Amnesia   Anesthetic   Distract me   I am emptied   In spite of my   Mastery   Refill me with   Plastic toys |   Plasticity   As in plastic   Oil   Fossil fuel   Aged in billions   Extracted for profits   Fracked with toxic   effects |   Recognition   Whose?   Why?   Do I want your   recognition?   No.   I do not surrender to   your gaze. |
A Process Note:
Meditating on the title of the poem, the word that stood out for me is plasticity. Plastic. Oil. Fossil fuel. Resource Extraction. Fracking. Fracked World. As we have lived in the Empire of oil in the past century and have reaped its supposed benefits, it is also beginning to dawn on us that we have exceeded the limits of what the Earth can provide in its own biological time. Paul Erhlich in Human Natures writes that our cultural evolution has outpaced the biological evolution of the Earth. So here we are: our capacity for recognition filtered thru plasticity becomes a way to Forgetting.
Eileen conjures images in this poem that speak of both the light and dark of recognition. There is Beauty still in spite of the shadows. But with bombs falling on Iraq and Gaza, I am filled with Grief. And I pray for Rain.
—12 AUG 2014