{"id":792,"date":"2011-09-14T09:33:51","date_gmt":"2011-09-14T17:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/onelife\/?p=792"},"modified":"2011-09-14T09:33:51","modified_gmt":"2011-09-14T17:33:51","slug":"dont-tread-on-me-911-fallout-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/?p=792","title":{"rendered":"Don’t tread on me! 9\/11 fallout poem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Swamped. Fighting a virus. Sick of editing but if the manuscript isn’t 100% print ready, it’s pretty darn close. So, so long slogging, hello hustling. As soon as I square away a swack of domestic duties and finish screening nearly 60 videopoems for Visible Verse Festival<\/a> which happens on Friday, Nov. 4 this year. Forge. That’s what I’m doing. Well, aren’t we all? Born forgers we are, regular blacksmiths.<\/p>\n

Had an interesting exchange with a friend who was reluctant to remove a photo of moi<\/em> from a Facebook album, which led to a discussion about FB photo posting etiquette. She suggested that the protocol was to tag only the pics that the subject liked. I said protocol schmotocal, friends remove pics that friends aren’t comfortable with. Common courtesy, common sense. To me. But then I\u2019m media hack from way back and make no apologies for it. Fundamental in this age of Facebook and social media. I realize absolute control is impossible but it’s my right to have input over the end result of our collaboration (mine and a photographer’s, which I always discuss ahead of a shoot) and the distribution of said images. But that’s just me. I think the real issue is integrity. Trust. Mutual respect between artist and subject. Artists are not gods, above or beyond their subjects. But it’s a slippery slope indeed because what we do is vital and the truth must come out. I think of Lincoln Clarkes<\/a> and those incendiary photos he took of drug addicted women in the downtown Eastside, and Diane Arbus, both whom I believe always asked permission. It also happens to be the way to a better photograph. I’m also suspicious of a lot of *documentary* films. We all know how easy it is to skew facts with editing, etc. Which makes me think of the Strickland character in Robert Stone’s novel, Outerbridge Reach<\/em>, a true opportunist\/artist, some would say sociopath. But if you pose for a photo, presumably you are taking a bit of a risk, she said. I said, I try not to presume anything. Posing does not necessarily equate with permission. License.<\/p>\n

And here’s my other 9\/11 poem. Or perhaps it’s more about the fallout.<\/p>\n

SECHELT<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s so lovely here. Burdock wafting, whooshing.
\nSleek cyclist slows for no man, woman or child.
\nKamikaze starlings chase off rivals reflected in glass.
\nSpringtime. Neo-hippie chicks and plump lesbians.
\nRound, orange buoys in the cove. Boatload of mental
\ncases on an outing covert as a DARPA project.
\nA prattling punk rocker can\u2019t conquer fear
\nbut can contain it, her sunbathing Labrador
\nsleeping through everything. Loudspeaker honks.
\n“This sale is an extravaganza! Prawns. Maple syrup.
\nSmoked salmon. ALL on special!”
\nA longwinded lute maker. Old world restaurant,
\npickle juice in the potato salad,
\nbird lover training orphaned fledglings.
\nFlorida flight schools, Atta and eighteen others.
\nBig clue, red flag, CIA too bullish to see.
\nWhy take flying lessons only to play
\nhooky on Descent & Landing day?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s lovely here. I have nothing to complain about
\nexcept, some people complain too much.
\nMy new friend Sophie, whining
\nabout the pub\u2019s crappy coasters, catching a nasty cold
\nfrom a cabbie in Reno, the jerk she moved here to marry,
\na lazy fisherman, busy cutting the head off her mettle.
\nShe grows defensive as a row of swaying cypress trees
\nwhen I offer suggestions. I retire to the gazebo,
\nhear a train and some blues huffing across the water.
\nSonny Terry & Brownie McGhee?<\/p>\n

I wake to news of coffin-sized cells. Torture.
\nAn American Extraordinary Rendition Unit
\nnabbing suspected terrorists for one-way flights
\nto top-secret sites around the globe. For questioning.
\nI am informed there are no railroad tracks near Sechelt.
\nThose rhythms must have come from machinery
\nat the cement quarry on the other side of the inlet.<\/p>\n

My cranium feels like a washbowl.
\nMascara brush too fat,
\nlike trying to apply a bumblebee
\nto my eyelashes.
\nOh, I have nothing to complain about.
\nIt\u2019s lovely here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Swamped. Fighting a virus. Sick of editing but if the manuscript isn’t 100% print ready, it’s pretty darn close. So, so long slogging, hello hustling. As soon as I square away a swack of domestic duties and finish screening nearly 60 videopoems for Visible Verse Festival which happens on Friday, Nov. 4 this year. Forge. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[149,152,183,324,352,353],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}