poetry

This is actually a letter I wrote, but I think I aught to share, not that anyone reads this crap...but I thought it was interesting.....

As you probably know "poesis" in the original greek means "to create." The idea is that, at least for your disciple Plato, that poetry is dangerous because it isn't grounded in the real, not in reality. Poetry creates for itself new truths. These truths can control men and therefore are dangerous to the republic, in plato's model.

But the idea is that poetry creates by outlining something never seen before in the real, it is a poesis that draws some figure in the essence of reality and presents itself as truth, a truth, something present but not visible until it is outlined by poetry. For me, poetry is that act. It is a verb, it requires action. It is a constant creation, a birth of something new from the void of the now. The writing of the poem, the reading of the poem, each act is an act of creation.

So what is poetry, the question seems to remain unanswered, but perhaps it is a question in itself. Poetry is seeing what was before unseen and "creating it" by bringing it to the light of day, to the eyes and hearts and minds of others, maybe even the self. Great poems show us what there could be, what there is if you look for it, they aren't documentaries. They are the play on the surface of reality. Yet they go much deeper. They are the essence of truth living that is attempted to be captured by the poem.

Poetry for me isn't just a couplet or a sonnet, poetry is the act of reading the text and thus reading the word. It is the freedom of the word to play, to shift, to dance. Of seeing something new or even seeing the object in its entirety, beyond the superficial. Music has a poetry to it, the gaps in sound, the dissonance of some notes make it beautiful, it creates in the "void of presence". Food can be poetic, the explosion of flavours off the pallet makes us understand the beauty and enjoyment in the simplest of acts. For example again, the poetry of the human body. For me, one of the most beautiful forms is that of the human body. Dancing is a moving poetry of that form. The human body with all its shapes realised, seen for what they are is beauty and poetry.

Again in the human figure, the way you say something, your accent, the way you toss your hair, your smile, the twinkling of the eye, the glance back, each act maybe just an act, but then there is a poetic subtext that you can see only when you take a step back.

Poetry in literature and the word itself is just as strong. However poetry doesn't draw a box around something, because it is a creation it is always transient, wild as the wind, shifting in shape as the eyes and ears and hands of a new person touch it and experience it.

Poetry makes life worth living. It allows us, if only for a second to free ourselves from the banality of life, the repetition and boredom that overcomes us with such a monotonous existence. It doesn't ask us for our production numbers or rebuke us for poor performance. It celebrates our mere existence. It perhaps makes our existence seem like something wonderful, unique, yet at the same time it allows us to see the continuous human experience-- that project we are all born into as members of our race, yet it slips out of sight as we get into the monotony of each day. It awakens us to the wonder of our own existence. So often we lead our lives for other people, we become slaves to them, we becomes tools, items, objects. But poetry, the great paradox, allows us to live for a moment for ourselves, to discover the wonder of our existence, but at the same time awaken and enliven us to the bonds that hold men together. We all are a group of individuals, this planet is filled with so many facets, counting would be impossible and it is that collective experience that is awoken in poetry. Our collective individuality. The uniqueness of being. The experience of uniqueness.

I don't know if that satisfies your question. There is so much to say, that could and can be said about this topic, but those are my current thoughts. Let me know how you feel? What do you think?

Tyres

I work at Michelin as a lean manufacturing consultant kind of thing. It is an interesting job. I started out as a maintenance guy working my hands, building, fabricating and the like. The next year I began a sort of lean manufacturing assassin. I was intensely trained in all the tools, read al the books and then dropped into a problem area in the plant. I would then go in and act like a fixer, I would make the problem go away. I would do what it took to make it happen, to get the desired results. It was interesting to say the least, but I got the reputation of being a hardass, as not taking no for an answer, but at the same time a reputation among the upper level management as a fixer, a guy who can get things done.

Well upon my return this year to Michelin, I was assigned expanded duty, given an office, a computer a phone and asked to be the fixer again, but this time for the entire plant, all the time. Instead of an assassin I became a kind of green beret. I knew the tools, I could do it when it was needed, I have gotten dirty before, but now I was dropped into areas and now I just train them so they can take care of their own business. I give them the tools and lead them, but they have to pull the trigger so to speak.

Management is an interesting occupation. You don't learn how to do it in school. Get in the real world and everyone will tell you that. You have to be smart and charismatic and by shear power of will you can get things done, or through reliance on the procedure. More to come on that.

I have learned you must lead from the front. There is no other option. You can have commands issued from a desk, but you must have someone out on the floor with the people to implement the orders successfully. Part of being a leader is being confident in person. You need to speak loudly and clearly, but at the same time actually listen to others. You need to dress the part as well. I remember several summers ago i was doing an industrial engineering study for a problem solving event and a forklift was riding with his forks in the air and I flagged him down and yelled at him, me a student, but I was confident, right and dressed the part and carried byself as such. You are what you appear to be.

I have read several books. That was an understatement. That was cocky. But among them were several which have been rather erudite and have application to the real world. Gemba Kaizen, The Prince, The Art of War, and Leadership Through People Skills have bee most sage in their wisdom. The Art of War is not entirely about war. Written in the warring states period by sun tzu, it offers amazing advice on how to win and be successful. Key point, know yourself and know your enemy, but also never go into a battle you cannot win. Everyone knows Machiavelli, but I doubt many read it. Key point, when one cannot be both loved and feared, be feared. But at the same time he says that one can never be hated by the people otherwise no matter what happens the princedom will fall apart, think about it. Go to Gemba, if there is a problem go to where it happens and figure it out rapidly, don't reinvent the wheel, don't over study, grab the low hanging fruit and implement action immediately, make it work.

Know how to hold your cards. People have a tendency to say too much to impress people. You have to know how to lead and get what you want. Remember success isn't just going to happen because you want it to, you cant talk it into existence, you have to know how the system works, know the people who can help you and never throw all your cards on the table too early. Transparency is a good thing, but sometimes if you don't seem like it's important and give all the details then they aren't going to help you succeed.


That's all I got.

Americana

So I felt this overwhelming feeling of being of being proud to be an American, not like the song though. I was listening to Aaron Copland and watching "When Man Left the Earth" and I thought about how much we did do, it made me happy. The odd thing is, when I was thinking of America from the outside in, the idea of regionalisms began to disappear and the country as a whole, a people began to emerge. We have done a great deal in our 250 years of existence. 250 years is a cosmic blink, not even a blink, but we have done a great deal. Just a quick thought.

Happy June

I am tired at the moment so I shall make this brief. I have difficulty writing "think"...for some reason I seem to write "thing"...odd.

Electrocuted myself making a repair on an extension cord that was still plugged in to the socket. This was a learning experience. I was sitting on the ground, perspiring because it was a hot day and I was three hours into doing yardwork when I touched the hot contacts with my sweaty hands and zap....it felt like i lost control of my body....I threw the knife out of my hands, I jerked backed screaming...it felt like there was another voice in my head, like someone turned on a television and I was just watching because i had no control. It felt as though thousands of bees were stinging me all over my body. Definitely not the most pleasant of experiences. Safety first kids, safety first.h