Dissent

Dissent

  5:28 AM    Vagabond

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Vagabond is pleased to announce that the selection for our upcoming anthology, DISSENT (an anthology to end war and capitalism) is complete and contains over 90 poets from around the world, to be release later this year.

 

Support this urgent work from the most powerful voices on the planet, as they call for a lasting peace and economic sanity, over a system that is imploding and leading us all into the abyss, by pre-ordering your copy today.

 

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They say you need a great opening line/ opening scene to grab your audience and keep them reading. Dissent: an anthology to end war and capitalism from Vagabond manages to do this multiple times. The opening quote from Greta Thunberg not only stuns but accurately captures the theme, from which this collection never wavers: ‘The one thing we need more than hope is action. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere.’

Editor Mark Lipman then rips into his introduction, asking: ‘If a poet’s job is to seek out and expose the truth, we are then left with the most relevant question of all, which is, “What is truth?”’ That is a question that this diverse collection of contributors returns to, again and again. No matter what issue they engage with, the images (both visual and verbal) confront and reveal facets of the truth, no matter how sharp.

The opening poem is accessible, universal, and wickedly intelligent. From v.f. Thompson, So It Goes:

i am staring down the barrel of my future

waiting for the bombs to fall

 

regardless of verdict

i am already a prisoner of war

 

i think of Lot’s wife and how i love her

because to turn around and look

is so human

 

I have to comment here that I am currently taking a workshop on the strength of the line in poetry. Not only is this a powerful message but the form of the poem is a lesson in enjambment. It was wonderful to see the quality of the pieces selected for this book.

And so I was hooked. There were so many memorable snippets that it was difficult to cull a set to share here. For example, from Aleksey Porvin in  Ukrainian:

 

an army tunic sewn

as if to leave room for future holes – medals or bullets,

the fabric doesn’t care

 

I stopped for a few minutes after reading that. Declared war, undeclared, the unremitting slaughter of innocents by guns all around us. The fabric doesn’t care. But maybe we should care.

 

Sometimes it’s the simplest images that prove so powerful. The first line from Howard Friedman, They Can Never Take Our Love, is both refreshing and haunting:

 

When the rain hits the refugee camp it still feels like a gift from god

 

Or this, from Beppe Costa, The Slaughter of Gaza:

 

the most equipped army in the world

fears stones and rising brains

 

And there you have succinctly captured the power of uprising: stones and rising brains. Youth and those who are fed up have always been the agents of change in the world.

 

Florence Weinberger paints a scene of watching the news on TV at dinner time in If You Want To Talk About Your Hatred Of War:

 

do you really need a word by word translation?

You know she’s pissed or scared or sick, maybe all of it,

and she’s holding

 

this skinny kid, hard to tell how old it is,

and it hurts yet you keep eating

and you keep watching; you have to.

 

It’s a scene both visceral and a cool remove away. And that’s the challenge, as we are bombarded by information from all sorts of media. We both want to see and to look away.

 

Several other poems stood out in this massive anthology: Proper Terror, Robert Priest; 6,250 Miles Away in Afghanistan, Nan Ottenritter; Ode to a Psychological Operations Officer in Vietnam, Tom Ferrebee; Sunday: Late- Stage Capitalism, Gerard Sarnat; Pandemic Dreams, R. B. Simon; Eight of Swords, Robert Beveridge; News Feed, Lee Eric Freedman. The artwork also deserves a shoutout. Mark Lipman has proven again to be a master at providing images that complement and accentuate the poems.

 

I’d like to end this review with a quote that speaks to the root cause of so much of the strife discussed within: fear. Fear can unite or divide us. Let’s take the time to read these words, absorb the messages, and act to solve the problems we face. From Isabell T. VanMerlin, Gimme Shelter:

 

So gimme shelter – gimme shelter from the fear:

the fear that makes people call the police

the fear that makes people want to be police

the fear that police live on

the fear that war is all about

the fear that makes the weapons for war

the fear that gives soldiers and shooters and suicides purpose.

 

Yeah, gimme shelter, would you?

Just lookin’ for a place to sleep.

All of this in only two words: Highly recommend.

 

                                                                    - Elizabeth Wolf

 

Elizabeth S. Wolf’s recent books are A Collection of Partings (Kelsay, 2022) and I Am From: Voices From the Mako House in Ghana (editor, 2023). Elizabeth’s poetry appears in multiple journals and anthologies and has been nominated for several Pushcart Prizes. Rattle Summer 2022 featured her Prisoner Express Chapbook Project. Elizabeth is a member of the Scheherazade Project 101 Artivists.

 

(Currently Out-of-Stock) ORDER your copy today for only $25

 

“Dissent: An Anthology to End War and Capitalism” emerges as a poignant and timely collection, interweaving the poetic voices of anticapitalist visionaries from across the globe. In an age marked by the ascendancy of ruling elites who manipulate power to foment wars and steer humanity towards the precipice of climate disaster — all fueled by the unrelenting mechanisms of capitalism — this anthology serves as both a clarion call and a reflective mirror to our times.

 

In a landscape where the majority remains entranced by corporate news and the comfort of apathy, these voices are a rare and refreshing departure. Amidst the prevailing silence or the clamor of complacency, these poets use their words to awaken the masses. Their courage to rise against the status quo set them apart. In a world where dissent is often stifled by the allure of ease, these poets bravely bear witness to the unvarnished truths that lie hidden beneath the veneer of complacency. Their verses urge us to question, to reflect, and to join the chorus of those who dare to seek change.

 

Across a spectrum of styles and tones, “Dissent” showcases the resolute spirit of those unafraid to challenge the entrenched doctrine of capitalism. Amidst the cacophony of a profit-driven consumerist culture, these poets strike back with the language of the oppressed to address systemic inequities.

They collectively channel a shared ethos of resistance. They reveal the ceaseless cycle of exploitation and conflict. The ruling class manipulate the gears of power, steering humanity toward self-inflicted ruin. As the looming specter of climate change darkens the horizon, the poets underscore how capitalism’s insatiable hunger undermines the very bedrock of our existence.

 

The anthology’s potency lies in its collective voice against the absurdities of our era. It transcends geographical confines, as poets hailing from diverse corners of the world contribute their verses to this symphony of dissent.

 

In a world scarred by capitalism’s destructive reign, this anthology stands as a testament to the enduring strength of human creativity and the unwavering resistance to surrender. Through its verses, we are reminded that while ruling elites may wield fleeting dominion, the collective voice of dissent resonates with unwavering clarity, guiding us toward a future anchored in peace, justice, and equity.

 

Jay Ponti

 

Author and Activist

 

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