Friday, September 25, 2015

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.
_____________________________________________________

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.


2 comments:

  1. Great ! Literature is only the potential that leads our life on path to heaven or hell ------ Ajay Singh

    ReplyDelete
  2. Absolutely brilliant!

    Nothing less than what we've come to expect from this phenomenal poet.

    ReplyDelete