Raymond Keen- A Poem

A Theory of the Origin of Western Civilization

When did we first witness

a shiny metal hook

sink deeply into a human back,

deeply enough to hold

the struggling figure

securely suspended,

like a well-caught fish on a hook?

Sometimes the blood-red,

bone-white spine

was pulled through

the victim’s back

by the weight and writhing

of the human body.

Imagine that!

We have seen the newsreels

of the Jews they called vermin,

hung neatly in a row

on Nazi meat hooks

in respectable German cellars,

hung neatly in a row

like little caps

hung neatly in a row

in a neighborhood kindergarten in winter.

Imagine that!

Oh students

of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven,

oh singers

of Gregorian Chant,

imagine that!

Together, we enjoy watching

Leatherface on the wide screen

as he skewers the screaming girl

securely on the meat hook,

so he can finish preparing

in his butcher’s kitchen

for the evening meal.

Retailers say,

“Fear is created by the merchandise.”

First the merchandise is presented,

then comes the fear.

And the fear is transforming.

In Kubrick’s stunning overture

to 2001:  A Space Odyssey

(“Dawn of Man”),

the ape-men (Australopithecus)

see the black monolith

for the first time,

circle it cautiously,

jibbering in fear,

then touching

the great object of peril

oh so tentatively

before exploring,

finally caressing

the truth.

First comes the merchandise,

then comes the fear.

And the fear is transforming.

The fear of Australopithecus

transforms the useless thigh bone

into a club of death,

a prehistoric meat hook

with which the primordial ape-man

can now see his way

to kill his same-species rival

at the waterhole.

Homicidal man is born,

master over his enemies

now so clearly evident

with his new tool of destruction.

Together, we enjoy watching

Leatherface on the wide screen

as he skewers the screaming girl

securely on the meat hook,

so he can finish preparing

in his butcher’s kitchen

for the evening meal.

The mind and heart

of the Western World,

the Roman Empire,

perfected the practice

of crucifixion.

They nailed those enemies

who threatened the order of the State

to a cross,

enemies like the Jew Jesus,

who hung on the Roman meat hook

to assuage the common fear

of the good citizens of Rome.

Later, the new order

of Western Civilization

is the Christian Church.

Christianity itself

had become the meat hook.

If a man is afraid,

he will protect himself with something frightening.

The enemies of the Christian State

were treated with ritual torture

that led to confession,

that led to being tied to the stake,

the medieval meat hook,

so the enemy could be burned alive,

affirming the safety

of good Christians everywhere.

Together, we enjoy watching

Leatherface on the wide screen

as he skewers the screaming girl

securely on the meat hook,

so he can finish preparing

in his butcher’s kitchen

for the evening meal.

Everything began with the meat hook.

First came the merchandise,

then came the fear.

And the fear is transforming.

Hence we have the progress

of Western Civilization

hanging on a meat hook.

Or Western Civilization itself

is the meat hook,

and we are the meat.

We have Western Civilization’s

philosophy of the meat hook,

the meat hook as foundation

of the mind-body problem,

the Tree of Knowledge

in the Garden of Eden

as meat hook.

The Devil as meat hook.

So we swallow the meat hook

without being asked

for our own peace of mind.

Meathook.

Then there is silence.

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Raymond Keen’s Bio:

Raymond Keen was educated at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Oklahoma.  He spent three years as a Navy clinical psychologist with a year in Vietnam (July 1967 – July 1968).  Since that time he has worked as a school psychologist and licensed mental health counselor in the USA and overseas, until his retirement in 2006.  He is a credentialed school psychologist in the states of California and Washington, and a licensed mental health counselor in the state of Washington. 

Raymond’s first volume of poetry, Love Poems for Cannibals, was published in February 2013.  He is also the author of a drama, The Private and Public Life of King Able, which will be published in 2015.  Raymond’s poetry has been published in 29 literary journals.