Title: Where am I headed
Genre: Pop (Spoken word)
Verse 1
I was lost in myself; I hardly could figure out why
But when I tried asking ‘’why?’’
It became very blurry the answer
Could it be what I thought I knew
Or what is happening around me?
I looked at the completeness of my world
Only to realize how vague it has become
My perception , I thought, would guide me
But the contradiction, compared to what I’m encountering, is something else
Am I just becoming ignorant or in a conundrum?
Then, I’d say, ‘’time would tell’’
However, time, I realized, was my foe
So, I have to really figure out where am I headed?
Verse 2
Come to think of it, I was educated
Educated?! Okay, I was taught in school what’s right from what’s wrong
On second thought, recognizing the anomalies in my life and the world as a whole
I’m observing that everything is so wrong that what’s left isn’t right!
What I was taught was ‘’the good’’ seem to be the bad
And vice-versa
Can this really be?
Hmmm…Trying to think through
But wait, can provide an answer to what I don’t know?
Well, perhaps, the wrong answer!
To the issue at hand, did I learn the right thing?
Can I change the situation around me?
I believed in the world of possibility
But my perception is fighting against what is around me!
Oh yea! Something isn’t right
So, It’s time I looked at the mirror and ask
Where am I headed?
Verse 3
Can anything worth learning ever be taught?
A question I was forced to ask myself
I have to re-evaluate what my thoughts are about everything
A friend really challenged when she asked
‘’what if all you knew about everything and what you are being told and taught about everything were all false, what you goinna do?’’
Till this day, i have no concrete answer
Yet, I’m poised to challenge myself and move in this light
‘’How?’’ I asked, looking to the heavens for answers
After lengthy years of thinking and asking people questions,
I came to the realization:
Unlearn the inconsistent to relearn what ought to be ingrained in mindset of my formative years for a proper learning
That, I knew, would help me change what I encountered
‘’Afterall, a change in my thought-process, better yet, my perception, would change my circumstances, my world, that is.’’, I thought. ‘’And make the world at large a better place’’
‘’How do you want to go about it?’’ someone asked me, as I talked to him about my situation
It’s going to be a long path to illumination
Then, I would know where I am headed
In The Rape Of The Lock the metamorphosis of the epic gains full poetic freedom. Discuss.
In the vein of the statement, ‘If Pope be not a poet, where is poetry to be found?” wherein, Dr. Johnson’s putting forth of rhetorical question might further be justification in the vindictiveness in sublimity and elevation of the loftiness and grandiosity revealed by the five cantos. Thus, exclaiming the marvels of gifted poet Alexander Pope, Dr. Johnson’s critical appreciation ought to be quote worthy regarding Pope’s work, ”The most airy, the most ingenious and the most delightful of all his compositions.”
The Rape of The Lock is a mock heroic epic by the Restoration epoch literary lion Alexander Pope attempting to ameliorate rivalrous relationship between Fermors and Petres Libertinism and profligacy of the monarchical sovereignty of Queen Anne (1701-14) has been satirised in the mock epic. .
No other poetic other than Shakespearean composition reaped heroic couplets and in as much the narrator of the poem soars and sinks, magnifies and diminishes his characters, condescending towering climaxes and descending towards abysmal depths. In so far poetic effect such as high seriousness and low comedy, optimism, gloom, mirth and despair and a host of other atmospheres or poetic states have been painted in the sustained heroic couplet. Professor William Frost is right when he says that in the Rape of the Lock, “Every poetic and logical energy is brought into focus, no syllable giving the effect of having been placed or selected at random.” “Sound and Sense” are wedded, so too, are the relation of “rhyme and reason”.
Written in epic manner with allegorical characters, the work jestfully satirizes Belinda with Great Britain, the Baron as the Earl of Oxford, who at the time of the poetry headed Queen Anne’s government, Clarissa with Lady Mesham and Thalestris with the Duchess of Marlborough (both Lady Mesham and Duchess of Marlborough had political influence because of the Queen’s attachment to them, and were rivals for her favour). The burlesque mockery of supposedly pernicious aspects of high society is never altogether in the stroke of seriousness evoking Hazlitt in dilemma of “whether to laugh or weep”. In the words of Hazlitt : “No pairs are spared, no profusion of ornament, no splendour of the poetic diction to set off the meanest things. The balance between the concealed irony and the assumed gravity is as nicely trimmed as the balance of power in Europe. The little is made great, and the great little. You hardly know whether to laugh or weep. It is the triumph of insignificance, the apotheosis of foppery and folly. It is the perfection of the mock heroic.” Incarnation of Miltonic character of Raphael paralleling as the Ariel by Pope is intending the lofty exploit of employing a sylphlike supernatural and celestial machinery in order to advise and warn the Baron of thievery in unlocking Belinda’s lock.
Examine the disposition of the heroine figure in the Rape of The Lock by the literary lion of the Augustan epoch Alexander Pope.
The ambiguity of the romantic affection and moral censure on the narrators part is deliberate and derives from the mood of lighthearted geniality and in part from the imagery of a glamorous world of coquettes and sylphs. Love, admiration and regret are ingeniously woven into the fabric of the poem to a much greater degree than that of the mock heroic satire. Miss Arabella Fermor is the main feminine disposition casting heroine figure in the mock heroic couplet The Rape of The Lock. Alexander Pope’s dedicatory poetic verses were intended to revere and venerate Miss Arabella’s fallen tresses. Pope satirized mildly and genially the restrained and refined manners of the upper classes aristocracy in the light of Belinda’s personae. For this whim of satirical exploits, Pope throws Belinda in the Hampton Court wherein, ministers of the State, “sometimes counsel take- and sometimes tea”.
“This Lock, the Muse shall consecrate to Fame, And midst the stars inscribe Belinda’s name.”
Belinda at her dressing table is the heiress of a whole race of previous lady charmers from the playhouse girl in Restoration Comedy to the old coquette in fashionable London society. Although Belinda supernaturally divined to be a goddess deity, but her envisioning of a fairland of jewels, china, lapdog and snuff boxes epitome of a Narcissist as put forth by Alexander Pope.
By virtue of poetic satire, Belinda’s elevated elegance and charming sublimity “Belinda smiled and all the world was gay.”… “new glory to the shining sphere!”.. Belinda’s visionary sightedness epitomizes the metaphor for iridescent blaze glowing in the brightness of solar luminosity as poetically graced in naturalistic impressions. To Pope, Belinda’s metaphysical and symbolist manifestations of being a priestess and the deity herself upon the toilette-the dressing table scene alluding to wondrous face and lightning eyes. Furthermore, her glory of the adventurous conquest of baron knights over a game of cards and finally to the emerging victor in the epic encounter of Beaux and Beauty justified the serendipity of her heroic spectacle and marvelous feat in more than mere flimsy and bawdiness.
Belinda with her sparkling manner of -being -feminine divinity contrasts Clarissa with true Englishness of- being -a -governess by Freudian psychology and cultural anthropology. On the contrary, Clarissa is moral and heroic in the most pedestrian manner with grayed tresses whether curled or uncurled and faded lock whether painted or unpainted. Despite a minor character with subsidiary role, Clarissa is no less important. She is one of those not mystical but of elusive Characters in poetry whose words and actions might be baffling us with paradoxical inferences.
Her keen sense of priorities reinforces Alexander Pope’s own attitude to the bright world of ‘Sol’ and she also serves as a foil to the poem’s glittering ‘toyshop’. To Belinda, on the other hand, Pope promises immortality of divinity; Belinda triumphs with christening celestial graces of beauty.
Spinsterhood must be the worst of all evils for a lady. Examine the significance of these lines by Leslie Stephen in the context of the locks. Examine the objectification of women and discrimination towards the feminine gender with textual references and critical evidence.
Belinda’s locks are a wrecking havoc in the Rape Of the Lock. Even supernatural and celestial machineries such as the fantasy characters’ sylphs were clipped into halves by shears in their endeavours to transmogrify cabbage into roses for Belinda’s sake. Locks whether grayed or grayed, neither coloured nor uncoloured and either curled or uncurled should be regarded as mortal tresses in ephemeral space-time subject to state of mortification.
Locks should be greyed and faded by the essence of time and thus, it would be a disaster to retain Belinda’s locks forever, notwithstanding owing to Clarissa’s statements “Since painted, or not painted, all shall fade …And she, who scorns a man must die a maid:”
Marilyn Francus commentary of Alexander Pope’s condescending mock epic towards women’s vanity pointed out, “The negative inscription of the female reflects both the tendency to revise in favour of the male and the oppositional relationship between the sexes; what constitutes the strength in the female weakens the male.”
Notes and Further Reading
Introduction G.S. Rousseau Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Rape Of The Lock pages: 1-14
Introductory J.S. Cunningham Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Rape Of The Lock pages:
Pope and Gender Valerie Rumbold, Pat Rogers Editorship of Cambridge Companion To Alexander Pope, pages: 222-26
The Case of Miss Arabella Fermor Cleanth Brooks Twentieth Century Interpretations Of The Rape Of The Lock pages: 29-45
A non-exclusive Release of
Heartfelt that Matters
My Rest comforts
Time's Engine
The staggering rhythm
that rests in Awe
of LOVES Rising
• • •
Daylight upon
Soothed that knows
That knows in the Quiet
Appreciate a gift
poured from the Timeless
Oceans
of
LOVE
by John Edward Culp
March 11, 2023
Brian Michael Barbeito is a Canadian writer and photographer. Recent work appears at The Notre Dame Review.
Spirit of a Place, Spirit of a Thing (Artist Statement)
In an off handed remark during an interview, U.G. Krishnamurti, called by some an anti-guru, and by himself, ‘Something like a philosopher,’ said that he once thought he could sense the spirit of a place. But then he brushed it off through words and body language. It didn’t fit in with his philosophy and message. But I resonated with his statement anyhow, because I had always felt that I could feel the spirit of a place and also a thing. Old town, lake still and wide. City street, carnival game vendor and prizes. Bee. Spider. Flower. Vine. Ridge. Summit. Stone. Petal. Stream. Sun. Cloud. Bird and dusk, horizon and dawn. Lock, denoting love, affixed to lonesome bridge alone in the rain. Artifacts. Areas. Some saturnine and some sanguine. Hundreds of places and things, their spirit, against reason and logic, somehow speaking out, not with language of course, but calling out nevertheless. Semantics and nomenclature could argue what spirit means. Is it the atmosphere, the daemon, the angel, the area, the vibration, the feeling? Is it physical, metaphysical, true and there, or purely imaginary and projected? Difficult to know conclusively. But there is something I think in all that mise- en-scene, and so on the rural footpaths and metropolitan worlds also, I try and photograph it and also write about it, this spirit of a place.
Who I Am
I’ve been wearing this person
All these years, have become
Used to him, his shape and his
Size, learned to put up with his
Manners and voice. I’ve watched
Him age, watched him lose a step,
Fall back a bit, begin to lose his
Place, sometimes forgetting even
Simple things, his wallet, his keys.
I’ve listened to him try to explain
Himself to others, himself to what’s
Left of himself. I’ve learned to be
Him, fell into the role, assumed his
Identity, even answer to his name
If I hear it in the midst of the day
He builds around us.
Identity
Each I.D. we carry says something else
About us. This one says I can be here
And this one says I can drive if I want
To, though right now I don’t have any-
Thing to drive, just me walking through
A line, a line called security check as if
This group were a threat. It’s hard to
Imagine their jobs, asking people in line
To establish their right to be here. How
Often do they catch someone, someone
Dangerous, dangerous like we have learned
To expect from watching the news. Imagine
The headlines: senior citizen with no i.d.
Tried to breach security but failed was then
Jailed. What we carry tells them who we
Are and what we might do, do if we don’t
Have the proper identification to show them.
In The End
Our obits will have us going peacefully
Surrounded by family, after a brief, or
Was it a lengthy illness, an illness they
Rarely name, and there we go off into
Whatever comes next. But what about
Those of us who will die violently, along
A highway, decapitated, disemboweled
Or in an emergency room, surrounded
By personnel who don’t know us from
Adam or Eve. But obits tend to miss
Those details. Like undertakers they’ll
Dress us up and put us in ideal situations –
With immediate or extended family, our
Loving folks gathered to watch us on our
Way to a next life that we all hope will be
There, waiting for us.
This month, Synchronized Chaos’ contributors explore our senses and perceptions of the world, and how we process them through thoughts and feelings.
Channie Greenberg sends us colorful images of marine and freshwater fish in various settings, while Mark Young’s non-representational art revels in the joy of line and color. Michael Barbeito aims to capture the spirit, or the essence, of the scenes he depicts. Nathan Anderson provides a visual rendering of a cacophonous stereo sonic landscape.
Jim Meirose crafts a surreal doctor’s visit that goes awry, while Martina Gallegos relates an anecdote about a pigeon who flies into an elementary school classroom, to the wonderment of the children.
Faiza Yahaya Maibasira’s poetry expresses her awe at life, friendship, and love. Sayani Mukherjee’s piece depicts a mystical union with nature or a lover, while John Edward Culp’s piece reflects the otherworldly ecstasy of true love, which includes grace given for the times when he falls out of sync with his partner.
Emina Delilovic-Kevric also speaks to creation and spiritual questing on a more intimate, personal level, within an uncertain world.
Aliyu Umar Muhammad relates her inner spiritual journey to find beauty in tumultuous surroundings, while Lewis LaCook provides a meditative look at life when we slow down to nature’s timescales.
J.D. Nelson’s haikus on ordinary subjects convey a bit of mystery and curiosity, while Karol Nielsen writes of the ironic and incongruous moments of daily life.
Susan Hodara explores the different ‘itches’ we experience, which becomes a meditation on the nature of desire. Daniel De Culla probes our human foibles and transgressions in his piece on the locals at a village cafe.
Jaylan Salah profiles Egyptian rapper D.A.R.KK. and discusses the appeal of his original songs, sharing both joy and struggle.
Christian Emecheta’s sci-fi piece conveys how we can manage the dangers of deep emotions rather than suppressing them and losing part of our humanity.
Mahbub Alam develops a more balanced perspective on life when he stares out at the moon, and then, later, when he remembers the brave history of his home nation, Bangladesh.
Farok Faisal literally “reflects” on himself by looking in a mirror, wondering how age has changed him. Santiago Burdon’s protagonist confesses and expresses remorse for an action born of hate and ignorance that shamed him for decades.
Joseph Wechselberger relates how we serve as spectators to various types of trauma. Sarah Burgess expresses her inner anguish at being excluded and viewed as a burden, while J.J. Campbell processes his life’s losses with a mixture of defiant nostalgia and despair.
Peter Cherches speaks to wear and tear over time, of machinery and relationships. Mesfakus Salahin reminds us that while death is a part of our existence, it does not carry the last word.
Mario Loprete consigns pieces of our modern urban landscapes to posterity by sculpting them in concrete. A. Iwasa also addresses themes of cultural preservation with his review of Phil Cohen’s Archive That, Comrade! Taylor Dibbert looks at social media as a modern archive, considering the paradoxical relationships we can have with our digital memories.
Z.I. Mahmud contributes his own personal ‘archive,’ a set of his favorite literary quotes and reflections on historical authors.
Norman J. Olson reflects on his artistic correspondence with Beat poet Charles Bukowski and considers that he’d like to emulate the man’s craft, but not his life.
Maurizio Brancaleoni evokes the difficulty of conveying his literary intentions within his poetry, while Chimezie Ihekuna urges perseverance, in artistic craft as well as in life.
We hope you enjoy the panoply of works included in this issue!
The year was 2089, and the world in which Azila was growing up was evolving astronomically. The city was bustling with self-driving cars and holographic billboards that projected advertisements in every direction.
A towering network of skyscrapers loomed above, connected by high-speed trains that glided silently through the air. But despite all the technological advances, one thing remained the same: emotions were still seen as a threat.
In a society plagued by chaos and uncertainty, the government sought to find a way to maintain control over the masses. The answer they found lay in the control of human emotions. By regulating the emotions of the people, the government could effectively suppress unrest, rebellion, and any actions that may threaten the stability of the state.
The government’s quest for control over the emotions of the masses took a sinister turn with the development of an airborne medication called M1-55 that altered the genetic makeup of the masses. M1-55 was designed to make people naturally prone to emotional control, without the need for drugs or any other form of artificial regulation.
As the medication spread through the air, it seeped into the bodies of countless individuals, altering their DNA and making them susceptible to emotional suppression. The consequences of the government’s actions were devastating. With subsequent generations growing up with an innate inclination towards emotional suppression, the people became increasingly docile and submissive, unable to express themselves fully or connect with others on a deep, emotional level.
The government succeeded in creating a population that was easy to control, but at what cost? The very essence of humanity had been compromised, leaving a society that was devoid of true emotion, creativity, and spontaneity.
Azila was among the recent generations but she had always known she was different from the others; it wasn’t until she started working for the government that she realized just how unique her ability to feel emotions was.
As an agent in the government’s Department of Emotion Control, she was responsible for monitoring and reporting any individuals who showed signs of emotional behavior. But instead of feeling proud of her work, she felt like a fraud and was suffocated by the constant pressure to suppress her own emotions.
Azila’s struggle with her emotions was a constant battle, and she often found herself turning to emotion-suppressing drugs which had been banned by the government. The pills were hard to come by and extremely addictive, but they gave her a sense of control over her emotions that she couldn’t feasibly achieve on her own.
One day, while sitting at a cafe with her friend Jax, Azila pulled out a small bottle of pills and began to fidget with it nervously.
“What’s that?” Jax asked, his eyes darting to the bottle.
Azila hesitated for a moment, then decided to come clean. “It’s a suppressant,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.
Jax’s eyes widened in surprise as he managed to mumble. “What? Azila, you know how dangerous those are. Why are you taking them?”
Azila shrugged, feeling defensive. “It’s the only way I can keep my emotions in check. You know what it’s like to feel too much, Jax. It’s overwhelming.”
Jax shook his head. “That’s not living, Azila. You can’t keep taking those pills. You’re better than that.”
Azila rolled her eyes, feeling frustrated. “It’s easy for you to say that, Jax. You don’t know what it’s like to have emotions that won’t go away.”
Jax leaned forward, his expression serious. “I know it’s hard, Azila. But taking those pills won’t solve anything. You have to face your emotions head-on, even if it’s scary. That’s the only way you’ll ever be truly free.”
Azila frowned, feeling conflicted. Jax was right – she knew that. But the idea of facing her emotions without the aid of drugs was daunting. What if she couldn’t handle it?
“I don’t know, Jax,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s just…it’s hard.”
Jax reached across the table and took her hand. “I know it’s hard, Azila. But you don’t have to face it alone. I’m here for you, no matter what.”
Azila felt a warm sense of gratitude wash over her. Jax was right – she didn’t have to face her emotions alone. With a deep breath, she tucked the pill bottle away in her pocket and looked at Jax with a determined glint in her eye. “Okay,” she said, nodding.
Their conversation was just one of many that Azila has had with her close friends on her journey to break free from the chains of emotion suppression.
One day, while on an undercover routine surveillance mission, Azila stumbled upon a group of rebels who were discussing the government’s strict control over emotions. The group was made up of people from all walks of life – engineers, artists, even scientists – all united by a common cause. Azila was hesitant at first, but as she patiently listened to their stories and witnessed their passion, she knew she had to join them.
She had always felt a sense of unease in a society where emotions were tightly regulated. Haven witnessed firsthand how the government’s drugs had numbed the populace, turning them into docile, compliant drones. But when she heard the rebels’ heartfelt concerns for emotional suppression, her sense of unease turned to outrage. It was then that she made a decision that would change her life forever – to become a double agent, working for both the rebels and the government.
In secret meetings with the rebels, Azila heard stories from people who had been rounded up, detained, and experimented upon for expressing their emotions. She even heard of the government’s attempts to further brainwash the populace, using media propaganda to reinforce the message that emotions were dangerous and needed to be suppressed. Azila was moved by the rebels’ passionate speeches and their commitment to overthrowing the oppressive regime.
But in the numerous meetings, she had with her colleagues at the office, Azila also listened to their side of the story. They spoke of the need for stability and order, the dangers of uncontrolled emotions, and the threat of rebellion. Azila began to see that the government genuinely believed that emotional suppression was necessary for the greater good.
Despite the conflict between the rebels and the government, Azila saw that both sides had valid concerns. She knew that a compromise needed to be reached, but how? As she continued to work as a double agent, she became increasingly convinced that the only way to create a society that allowed for emotional freedom was to find a way to bridge the gap between the rebels and the government.
Azila knew that her actions were dangerous and that her loyalties were constantly in question. But she remained committed to the cause of emotional freedom, working tirelessly to find a solution that would benefit all. She had become a true believer, a double agent for a higher cause, and the fate of the nation hung in the balance of her actions.
As Azila continued her work as a double agent, she realized that she needed a new way to fight the menace securely and effectually. She knew that the government was monitoring all channels of communication and that the rebels’ communication channels were also compromised. It was then that she came up with an idea – an anonymous, encrypted podcast and live video streaming channel where she could share her message with the world.
Azila worked tirelessly underground to set up the platform for a while, using her skills as a hacker to create an untraceable network that could not be detected by the government’s surveillance. She used her connections with both the rebels and the government to gather information and build a network of supporters.
In her podcast, Azila spoke out against the government’s policies of emotional suppression, calling on the people to rise and demand their right to emotional freedom. She shared stories of people who had been silenced or detained for expressing their emotions, and she encouraged her listeners to share their own stories.
Azila knew that she was walking a dangerous path. She had to be careful not to reveal her true identity, as she could face severe punishment if she was caught. She continued to work as a double agent, passing on information to both the rebels and the government, all while spreading her message of emotional freedom through her anonymous platform.
As the word spread, Azila’s podcast and live video streaming channel began to gain traction. People from all over the country tuned in to hear her message, sharing their own stories and bitter experiences. As the movement for emotional freedom continued to grow, the government became increasingly nervous.
Azila’s message of emotional freedom was spreading like wildfire. People from all over the country were tuning in to her podcast and live video streaming platform, and the movement for emotional freedom was gaining momentum. People who had never felt anything other than a numb emptiness were starting to experience their emotions again, and they were visibly fuming.
The government was caught off guard by the sudden uprising. They had never expected the people to rise against them in mass, and they were unprepared for the backlash. For weeks, protests and riots erupted across the country, as the people demanded their right to emotional freedom.
At first, the government resisted, using force to try and quell the uprising. But as the movement grew stronger, they began to listen. They heard the stories of people who had been silenced and oppressed, and they began to understand the depth of their pain.
Finally, after months of pressure, the government gave in. They initiated better ways to handle the problem, including the use of therapy and counseling to help people regain control of their emotions. They began to listen to the complaints of the masses, and they worked to address the root causes of the emotional suppression.
Azila watched in amazement as her message of emotional freedom brought about real change. She had never imagined that she could make such a difference, and she was filled with hope for the future. She knew that there was still a long way to go, but she was proud to have played a part in the movement that had changed the world.
Despite her pivotal role in the uprising, Azila remained anonymous. Nobody knew that she was the mastermind behind the movement or that she had been working as a double agent. She didn’t receive any accolades or public recognition for her efforts, but that didn’t matter to her. What was important to her was the knowledge that she had stood up for what she believed in and had fought against oppression.
Azila was content with the knowledge that she had made a difference. She had helped to bring about a new era of emotional freedom and had given the people a voice that they had been denied for too long. She had risked everything to fight for what she believed in, and she was proud of what she had achieved. Even without public recognition, she knew that her efforts had not gone unnoticed, and that was enough for her.
