Introduction to Misfit 26
Fixing Crazies
by John Bennett
(Camille Claudel, a famous French sculptor, was incarcerated in an insane asylum thru two world wars from 1916 until her death in 1946. She was heard to say to Auguste Rodin: "Even on your death bed you'll hesitate...")
Truly crazy
people have a
direct tap
into a
savage truth,
& so we
lock them up
forever while
we fight
our wars.
Perpetual war, that’s what we are fighting for. Or so Orwell says in 1984 . The best way to subjugate, to keep a populace focused, is to provide them with a visible enemy to hate (think Nancy Pelosi going forward), to rail against, to protest against. Every time you hear another assertion against Hillary, Comey, the FBI agents fired or resigned (not coincidentally most involved in counter-intelligence) think about the faces of the enemy. Those are the eternal, internal ones, no matter how ridiculous these accusations, and out of date they may be. (Isn’t Hillary, like so 2016 by now? Obviously it isn’t about her anymore at all, it’s all about Him.) We tend to forget, unless we have a soldier in our family stationed overseas in one of our conflict areas , that we are at war in Afghanistan, in Syria, hell, we are still technically at war with North Korea (these being just the ones we are actually aware of, there are undoubtedly others we are less aware of or don’t know about at all) until the president decides that, against out national interests, to end these wars. How could a pacifist excuse a war? the times we live in... One presumes, he ends one war so he can brand himself a peace keeper, only to begin another, unnecessary, war elsewhere. Remember Iraq ? How about a war with Iran? Venezuela, South American incursions have always eBenX popular .That would provide lots to rail against. Think of all these images of smart bombs and drone explosions. It will be just like Shock and Awe all over again. We all remember how well that turned out....but I digress.
Issue 26 is upon us as we enter our sixth year of Misfit. It hardly seems possible that we lasted this long, that people are still responding, reading and submitting. Most of the comments have been favorable, but not all. That’s what a democratic nation, and an open submission policy, is all about. We cannot end wars. Not even in the poetry community and we do not aspire to. At least not the poetry wars, such as they are.
My opinions remain my own and may not reflect the opinions of Misfit readers and writers. This too is part of the democratic process and I hope that we shall survive this current rash of constrained, hateful, totalitarian thinking. There will always be malcontents and misfits. May they all be on the right side of history. Thank you, as always, to our poets, co-editors Jennifer Lagier and Gene McCormick who make this magazine possible. Do see and take advantage of free books offer at the end of the review section.