2222

"tightened the screws a bit"

To hear the historians drone

of all the kings and queens, divine heads

who lost their crowns; how the hard times

of a mob's hungry growl unhinged

our world from nobler times, ushered

the reigns of terror we now remember

as stages of pleasure--makes me wonder:

what senseless bits of monkish debauchery

await the sons crammed into ivy

towers two centuries from now?

Where shall they begin their sifting

of mounds, the mundane minutia

compiled in clouds on top of clouds

of minds convinced each and every

thought conveyed beliefs worth saving?

How may they judge the chaff from chafe--

which fools are Lear's true sons of bedlam,

Alighieri reawakening

the Newtonian revolution?

I suspect only a few will

manage to unearth anything worth

savoring: from our stupefying

still skins the most likely verdict--

Liars, miscreants, and Yahoos.

Ken e Bujold

Reviews

[W. Barrett Munn]

This is modern evolution: from everyone will have 15 minutes of fame to everyone will be a 15-minute philosopher and the poor schmucks whose turn it is not left to sift. I read a little Ginsberg mixed with Wallace in this one. Well done.

Winston

[Ken e Bujold]

i was tightening as you were posting. the idea came after reading Paul Muldoon. I am fond of how he plays with history

[Lorry]

Just think how bored kids 2 centuries from now are going to be with dusty old scholars keeping them from their meta verse and hover boots (they'll still be promising those in the "near" future. Liars!)
I bet even Alexa sighs in response in 2222 😊

[softlyfall]

Education is a splendid thing, but true learning requires the sort of open mind and courage that will debate even the most steadfast facts. Perhaps it takes the eyes and heart of experience to cut wheat from chafe, so to speak, kins of Lear's bedlam, sage seers from bumpling still skins. We cannot protect youth from youth.
Humanity seems doomed to repeat its mistakes. What ARE they learning in school?
The idea of a grand design would be comforting if not for the concept of free will- in my mind they cancel one another out in terms of theosophy, if not theology.
"makes me wonder: what senseless bits of monkish debauchery await (our) sons" Me too!
This was a feast, Ken, and I enjoyed every morsel.

[Ken e Bujold]

would seem that you devoured it. spot on with thoughts amy

[Betty Hermelee]

I think what you might be saying is that we hope our sons and daughters are enlightened by their generation, rather than deflated…. That they should not acquire mundane skills in their learning but more likely be radical in their studies not like the old kings and queens who lost their thrones ….even if it starts a new revolution of thinking and acting….
Best
B.

[Ken e Bujold]

that is one of a few possibilities betty. also want peeps to think that what we think of as being so essential today is likely to read as dull and mundane to future generations as much of history reads to many of us today. not me, i love history, but i know a good many who dont

[Betty Hermelee]

You're very welcome Ken.
Best, B

[Red Brick Keshner]

We were watching a B&W version of Marie Antoinette last week and were soundly gobstopped by the angle that they took. It is as much as in the telling as it is in the receiving that history can be enlightening or deflating. Now she is more than 'let them eat cake' to our thinking and understanding.

[Ken e Bujold]

ah yes "let them eat cake" which was never actually said in the manner in which it has come down through time. the lady's french was not the best. Her implied meaning was to suggest if a shortage of bread, then let them be feed with a substitute. which became "let them eat cake" oh for the want of a good publicist.

[Red Brick Keshner]

Exactly!We are oft times misfed and we also choose to receive and keep stuff that bear no logic or truth in them! They needed potatoes, patatje fritten from nearby La Belgique.