Rogues' Gallery

Comprehensive Synopsis

What do people living today have in common with people living in the past? Did not those who lived before us experience similarly as ourselves? From age to age human nature and human reality are ever the same. All human beings of any age share life patterns in common. Living in our world presents every person with challenges. The glory of being alive in this world is compromised by complexities of existence and the proclivities to which we are all vulnerable. We live in an imperfect world; we are flawed creatures. Greek myths inform us of these truths; contemporary realities present us with a checkered condition. Life is a struggle; roadblocks and obstacles surround us. On our individual journeys we inevitably encounter and experience a baseline of human roguery that is our natural inheritance. We experience such roguery from others and/or present the same to others. Describing that condition and contemplating how to escape its circumstance is a preoccupation of Rogues’ Gallery. Recognizing such truths can put us on the road to recovery and to wholeness, wholesomeness and balanced well being. Five Greek myths have been chosen to illustrate this verity.

Section Outlines

Preface

One poemograph explains what a poemograph is and another discusses the beauty and ugliness found in Nature, the World and the Cosmos. These thoughts then set the stage for what follows and is amplified in the book.

Introduction

The question is asked: What is the truth about our common human reality? A brief discussion follows that leads to a consideration of human history and the many minds that have provided reflections and speculations on that question. Another question invites consideration of mankind’s existence and history on our planet. What have we achieved in our time on Terra Firma? Six thousand years, give or take a thousand, seems to be the history of written human records. What pride should we take in our species progress toward humane living and peacefulness? Recognizing our unsatisfactory record should bring us to a clear assessment of our deficient virtues collectively and individually. That brings us to an acknowledgment of human roguery that all suffer from, of the double-binded and demeaningly roguish: The subject of Rogues’ Gallery.

Section One: symbolic ( elements)

This first section introduces the Greek myth of Ariadne who suffered at the hands of Theseus: laby(rinth): ariadne/was a thinker/who made use/of a simple/dire expedient:/gave a threadball/to her chosen/helped him find/ his way back out/of a maze/that had confounded/droves of others:/was he thankful,/ariadne? Ariadne’s story was one of betrayal: She was promised marriage for helping Theseus slay the Minotaur and escaping an inexorable labyrinth, but was then abandoned by Theseus afterward. The world, our modern context, and contradictory realities of good and bad are then illustrated with this salutary poemograph: rogues’ (gallery): we are all rogues/of one sort or another/where is that skeleton—/hidden in your closet?/ why not bring it out/and dust it off/make it familiar/to your mind and thoughts/then, if you must/go hide it again/but, for heaven sakes,/not from yourself! Other poemographs follow that deal with contradictions in human behaviors and human experience. The section’s concluding poemograph strikes a more positive note: words (are): words are/the bread of life/moving us within ourselves/to recognitions of various sorts/and comprehensions over time . . ./they can make use happy/or make us sad/just in the way/they‘re strung together/and they can have/a special meaning/when they come from/someone/ very/special.

Section Two: double (binders)

The Greek story of Oedipus leads this section: oedipus (rex): you killed your daddy/and loved your mommy/then much later on/found out about you:/painful, wasn’t it!/so you blinded yourself/what a horrible fate!/I feel for you. Contrary situations and circumstances abound here: shot (in bed): he was sleeping in bed/when shot in the head/is a broadcast statement/I heard, just now,/on the radio station:/golly moses,/what a horrible situation!/that must hurt something/ awful/and is not very funny! The experience of confounding moments operate in this section in such peomographs as: exit (entrance), holy (toledo), nonsense (nonsense), fool’s (flak), horse (water), and wrong (number). Most especially in: contra (diction): paradox, irony,/contradiction/what on earth/is a fiction?/or a faction?/go ahead with/machination/or else try/manipulation!/how it works out/ in the end/is anyone’s guess:/are you my friend?/very well, then,/accept you this:/my interpretations/of your opinions,/attitudes,/irritations! Trenchantly: courage (etc.): courage/for/excellence/through/self-renewal/takes/courage/for/ excellence/through/self-renewal. And realistically: look to (the real): what I imagine/and what comes true/are two different things/so, distrust the former!/ look to the real/to what comes true/whatever happens—/that is your matter!

Section Three: figurative (expressions)

Sisyphus is the ironic lead in this section: sisyphus (futility): sisyphus, how long will you/roll that stone up that mountain ?/what’s that, for all eternity?/well, that’s a very long time!/believe me, I don’t envy you—/how did you manage/to get yourself/in such a predicament?/by disobedience to a deity?/is there any consolation/in reaching the top/when your stone/merely tolls back down/again to the bottom,/ad infinitum? Homer has Odysseus reflect on the unenviable Sisyphus, and Albert Camus in our own times make this figure more heroic. The poemographs in this section identify some of the author’s own troubles and experiences at one moment in time in his younger life. Employment travails are notable here: mad (journey): is life, for you,/a veritable mad journey?/does it continue even so?/does it make sense/that you can fathom/possess some logic/appeal to your reason/emotional well-being/and social roll?/do you wish this were not so?/what to do, where to go? real (life): struggling, straining/wailing and flailing/resisting infringements/coming undone?/—seeking recognition/economic munitions/whole life nutrition/settlement, position—/reading and thinking/trying to understand/attempting to grow/a life-working plan. Other modalities and human realities are struck: rising (and falling): rising and falling/is an action/we seem always/to be experiencing/in virtually everything/we attempt to do/and, yes, we’re doing it/even now, it’s true—/we can feel it, verily,/in our heartbeats, too,/ by checking our pulses/anytime we choose.

Section Four: battle (ments)

Procrustes and his invidious character and behaviors dominate in this section. procrustes’ (bed): procrustes/went beyond hospitable/stretched his guests out/on their beds/or lopped their legs off/if they spread/beyond the limits/of his head/determination/of their measure/mint/within his ghastly/scheme/(of values? hardly!). Whereas the previous section deals with the author’s own struggles and travails, this section deals with the faulty behaviors of others. super (vision), false (frames), insufficient (direction), motor (mouth) and hidden (agendas) spark the lead off in these invectives and accusations. Human incivilities, boorishness and misbehaviors now make parade. Two examples: field (resistor): are you going to be/a field resistor/when I make manifest/my field awareness/—all those thoughts/and mental spirations/I’ve brought together/to communicate to you/the vision I’ve had/of something special? And: sharp (shooter): the old sharp shooter/is that person/who can spot/those many errors/that others make/to their despair/when they are told/by the old sharp shooter/who sees the flaws/but not the flairs. All human beings are on journeys and develop behaviors and traits that often fail to give grace to others. Some are more egregious than others. All human beings are worthy of circumspection and sagacious estimation. The concluding poemograph in this section offers a variant take: idear (salesman): an idear salesman/is a seller/of dear ideas:/you may not always/find delightful/ his way of speaking/or of gesturing,/but if you pay/close attention/to his idiosyncratic/way of thinking/you may discover,/ gratifyingly,/that that feller/is some seller/of your very own/sweet idears! The call in this section is for a greater graciousness in human relations—greater compassion and fellow feeling.

Section Five: method (ologies)

This final section of Rogues’ Gallery presents the figure of Psyche, the soul of higher human thought and aspiration. psyche’s (trials): your rite of passage/out of carnal love/to a spiritual embrace/of the immortal above/required of you/four/challenging tribulations/which you surmounted/with desperate awakenings/that had the effect/of quickening your curiosity/and tempering your will/to great undertakings. Psyche is symbolic of the trials and tribulations everyone undergoes (in degree) to achieve some form of adulthood and maturity. She represents the soul of aspiration and struggle to reach a higher state of reason, maturity and wisdom fostered by love, virtue and awakening. Such poemographs as brain (storming), phenomeno (logical), word (smithy), and experience (mosaic) lead off the movement to higher intention, hope and purpose. Two poemographs substantiate such striving: keynote (honesty): keynote honesty/ambition, humility/self-respect/integrity/compassion, courage/resourceful love/excellence, renewal:/these are some/of the important tools and inspira(tion): inspiration/is the coming/to awareness/of ideas/and ways of expression/that have formed/within the psyche/and are now/just/fructifying. Two others poemographs carry a similar motivation: conflict (management): the age-old strife/ is always present/will not be swept away/we can but know /it must be faced/and dealt with every day:/one might, though, try/commencing with/some premises more fair/that those/of far more usual promise/and far more usual fare and good (reflector): consider, now, the/good reflector:/someone whom/you can rely on/to be present in the moment/to receive and express/human reciprocity/of the spirit/—this one is a/solid celebrant/of the life/that’s always growing.

Supplemental Note

Readers of Rogues’ Gallery may find much to delight in and to appreciate. Alternatively, some may find things to disagree with. To be honest, much of what is recorded here came from my head and heart and with what I was preoccupied in my late 20s. Specifically, I was on a temporary job assignment when these poemographs were indited. I had been assigned to a desk and was initially given no work to perform. My location was before a large front window that looked out upon a San Diego downtown street. To occupy myself, I took out paper and pen and began much of what is recorded here. I was amazed at the inspiration that sprang forth from me. That was a singular day of experience that was not to repeat itself. Since that time I have frequently written under inspiration though never so profusely or profoundly. Where does such inspiration and singing come from?