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OP_OETICS and digital art by Hammond Guthrie

Hammond Guthrie

Tide and Time Again…

…the length and width of the attention span
is being tested, strained, and manipulated
from the highest denominations of power,

preemptively initiating an undeniable fallout
from Homeland Weapons of Mass Distraction
self imploding under the seals of their office,

as hidden Weapons of Mass Destruction remain intact
quod erat demonstrandum in time’s ever shifting sand
because no one can remember where they hid them

in the (b)ore and (b)oil market(s) selling
short term memories for future’s in denial,
tide and time again swapping facts for lies.

Faith-basing the Leaky Faucet

And Lord appeared before the Bush

“I am the Lord thy God so march forth preeminently
before me, for you must dominate by faith alone.”

And the Bush drew near…

“And can I march and dominate my way
to Damascus, Teheran, and beyond?”

And soon after whispering to the Bush
the Lord his God went his way as he had left
communing with the Warrior in Chief of God.

No one who believes in democracy need worry
that the Pentagon does not have editorial control
as this vision was immediately leaked to the media.

“George Bush was not elected–he was anointed by God!”

Concerned about appearances in the public eye
the Bush ordered his appointed plumber’s helpers
to immediately “stop the leaks or else!”

Why is this man in the White House?

Because God put him there to fight
the principalities of darkness –
and this is our real enemy.

He intends to go all the way to the end
and taking us right along with him
unless he’s stopped by popular vote.

In the mean time God remains in heaven,
an anonymous source not to be identified
until after the election.

Bombastic Promise Keeping

he transition from dictatorship
to directorship is quite a hardship
according to the precedent’s promise

Avowing and re-avowing to the world
to hunt down enemies of the statement
before they even think of attacking

Faith-based reconstruction begins
as the precedent establishes itself
within a “democratic” Iraqi cabal

The precedent will use a neo-technocrat’s
broad spectrum blind vision spectacle
to map out terrorism–as the axis turns

Saddam offers to duplicate himself in the media
N Korea offers to preemptively export mass paranoia
Iran offers to fundamentally maintain a nuclear Shi’te state

Intelligence is seriously being questioned
believing that intelligence actually exists–
though no definitive evidence has been found

Anything is plausible–though one thing is certain
the precedent will cast its shadow across the globe
unless the precedent is undeniably removed

Interactive Art

3 Push Buttons: Polaroid(s), Type Rite and Noh Show
(will open in new window)

(The poems on this page were originally published online in Empty Mirror’s sister site, the now-defunct online literary journal, Voleur-de-Feu.com.)

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Hammond Guthrie

Hammond Guthrie (April 4, 1948–October 1, 2019) was the author of AsEverWas..Memoirs of a Beat Survivor and editor of The 3rd Page: A Journal of Ongrowing Natures. He was recently an associate editor for Jorvik Press.

A painter and writer, the artist found his feet in the underground community when he collaborated with a number of luminaries, including Del Close, Philo T. Farnsworth III; son of the inventor of television, 'Hube the Cube' Leslie, Liam O'Gallagher, William Burroughs, John 'Hoppy' Hopkins, and Robert Jasper Grootveld, mentor for the Provos.

Author: Hammond Guthrie Tags: Hammond Guthrie, poetry Category: Poetry January 7, 2012

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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