Marcielle’s poem, “Bury Me in Mojave,” was published in America Anthology in Dec 2009.
America Anthology Flag Cover
Her article, “Garden of Life,” was published in the January 2010 issue of Science of Mind.
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Eden
I startled my mother in the blazing
hallway, her breasts an exotic gift
my lips had never suckled. It was
an accident we met. Never before
had I beheld anyone naked. My sisters
told me of the times they had watched
her. I imagine my mother lifting
herself from the forgiving floral suds
of her bath. This secret time I had
never visualized until now. She glides
on her hose, attaching them with
little posy snaps, and perfumes
herself in her personal
scent. Slithering into her
strapless cocktail dress, her
shoulders glowing, she fluffs up
her hair like a delicate fern,
then entwines the glittering
necklace and presses on the blossom
lipstick which my father will kiss
from her mouth before they
lie down in the room where only they
may sleep. What are these angry wings
barring me from her garden? I remember
the last time she bathed me. I was
five and embarrassed. I turned away,
and she left me in my
unscented water.
###
(The above is an award-winning poem.)
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The First Tower
I’m dialing
my wife.
An airplane
has crashed through
my office wall.
Two stockbrokers
are carrying a torn and
shivering secretary
to the broken
staircase. The elevators
have sunken in
to the shaft.
“Honey, Call these numbers,”
I say. They are of families
we have never met.
She tells them their loved ones
are safe. Several people
climb toward the roof.
The fire department says
it’s the safest place.
They return saying
The door is locked.
Just in case, I say,
“Honey, I love you. Tell
the kids, I love them.”
Suddenly, a ball of fire.
###
The Senator Remembers the Lobbyist
He leads me to an anteroom.
He shows me the slick publication
of spliced photographs.
At the buffet table, a perplexing
vigor bursts from his eyes.
On the dance floor, he presses
his hips to mine,
and the coil of hundred dollar
bills excites my anticipation
as it does every time we embrace.
He is able to play along when I
clasp his hand, keeping my
uncommittal distance,
reticent to kiss kiss for the cameras.
We have discussed the jeopardy
of free speech as situations and
power bases reverse themselves.
The above are three poems from Marcielle’s book of poems,
The Breathing House
available on Amazon.com
Click here for more info
Her CD is also available on Amazon.com
Marcielle also appears in the Bob Bryan breakthrough documentary on Los Angeles poets called GV6:The Oddyssey
For more info, click here
Are We Becoming a Feudal Society?
Noam Chomsky predicted many of the events that are tearing our nation apart. He explained in his book, What Uncle Sam Really Wants, that there is a plan to shrink the middle class and that the rich would use money and resources to which the middle class will no longer have access. He said, “In one high-level document after another, US planners stated their view that the primary threat was … ‘popular demand for immediate improvement in the low living standards of the masses.’” (19) They want to “… install governments [around the world] that favor private investment.” (19).
Dictionary.com says:
Cultural Dictionary feudalism
A system of obligations that bound lords and their subjects in
Europe during much of the Middle Ages. In theory, the king owned all or most of the land and gave it to his leading nobles in return for their loyalty and military service. The nobles in turn held land that peasants, including serfs, were allowed to farm in return for the peasants’ labor and a portion of their produce
Chomsky’s predictions are apparent today. Banks who have not been wise in their money management are being bailed out, much to the public’s chagrin, by the citizenry. Jobs are being outsourced or completely dissolved. Americans are working harder for less money and benefits. The mass evictions in the country is scandalous. Ted Rall, author of The Anti-American Manifesto, discusses the foreclosures.
When the scandal broke on October 8th, the banks declared a temporary moratorium on foreclosures. Two weeks later, they declared the whole fuss a simple matter of paperwork and resumed their happy work of reducing millions
of jobless Americans to homelessness.
This is an example of presenting one face to the public while going about their business as usual behind the scenes.
“Unemployment in America jumped to the highest level in more than a quarter of a century last month, bringing to almost 7 million the number of jobs lost since the recession began.” says the Telegraph.co.uk.
In order to control ‘angry hordes of the unemployed and disenfranchised,” writes Chomsky, the government will turn to the police and then the military. We have seen the increase of military control over the public and surveillance inside our borders. Now, we take for granted cameras at stop lights. Face Book, Twitter, and You Tube are being connected to each other, so that all our contacts and their contacts know one another and they all know one another’s comings and goings.
Data bases of our information are already being created by the government, and some occur with our implicit permission. Think about medical, DMV, and college records. Schools are forced to allow the military to enter school yards in the form of ROTC programs, so they can begin the grooming process of students for combat. Pharmaceutical companies now cajole teachers to turn in parents who do not take noisy children to their doctor for Ridalin with the threat that those “neglected” children will be taken away from the parents. Parents have few rights in these processes.
Almost all reporters are now embedded (in bed) with the military. Many of us remember the days when journalists were free entities who gathered the news as they saw fit. Propaganda on the media has become increasingly blatant, with Fox News touting a very far right wing agenda and hosts like Bill O’Reilly screaming, “Shut up!” at any guest who disagrees with his agenda.
Many authors, including George Orwell, have predicted the subordination of the public to corporations and to the government. Orwell’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, depicts the strict control over information, the burning of books, and the de-education of the masses. All people can have what Andy Warhol called their, “fifteen minutes of fame,” but they do not know the name of their congress persons. This gradual breakdown of our society has been happening for decades. Teachers are being fired and vilified. George Bush Jr. called them the “intellectual elite,” avoiding the fact that he is the moneyed elite, and that he, along with Dick Chaney and Carl Rove, sucked up the resources of Iraq for their Haliburton interests.
The teachers’ unions are vilified, while charter schools teach for profit and are not forced to endure the rigors of meeting education standards that public schools must meet. Charter schools boast about how well their students are doing, but, Christian Science Monitor writer, Amanda Paulson wrote an article entitled, “Study: On average, charter schools do no better than public schools.” She says they work best for underserved populations. “The push to create more charters has been questioned in light of research showing no advantage – or even a negative effect – for students attending charter schools.” -Paulson.
People of color (who usually vote Democrat) are being intimidated on their way to the polls. I was a poll watcher when Al Gore ran for president, and at my training, one man reported that people of color who were driving up Lake Street in Pasadena to their polling places, were being stopped by police and asked for three forms of ID. With this, hanging chads, stolen elections, and lies by the candidates themselves, it is no wonder so many citizens see no point in voting. I tell my students that it is their duty and their honor to vote. Vote, and then let’s work out the issues during the rest of the year by calling our Congress people and working on committees, etc.
U.S. corporations, with the help of the military, have taken over Iraq, Afghanistan,, Palestine, and many other countries in their quest for global domination. Many of the murdered civilians of these countries are considered “collateral damage.” If the military can eliminate as many of these civilians as possible, it will be that much easier to take over the country.
Walter Lippmann calls the non-political portion of the US public (80 percent of the population), “spectators of action” and “the bewildered herd,” and he says that it is not their business to demand rights, but to prop up the corporations and the government’s agendas. (Chomsky 95). Chomsky says, “They are supposed to follow orders and keep out of the way of important people.”
Our free speech rights are almost nill. Yes, we can jabber all we want, as long as we do not reach too many people. The powerful corporations, the federal government, and billionaires have no interest in the security of our country or in doing what is best for its people. Their goal is to “get” while the “getting” is good and get out. Remember Katrina, Haiti, the BP oil spill, and other catastrophes in which the government purposely dragged its feet, knowing that the public would step in out of the goodness of people’s hearts. Chomsky mentions this fact in his book.
Our taxes allow corporate welfare to bail the corporations out, while public assistance is being pilfered by those same rich elites. We are paying the corporations for the privilege of living here, just as if they were feudal kings and lords and we, their serfs.
To visit Marcielle’s educational website, click here
Marcielle’s email address is: marcielle@verizon.net
Throughout the decades, Marcielle has organized, advertised, and hosted events for many
charitable organizations without asking anything for herself. In fact, she has spent thousands of dollare, even when she did not have money for herself, in order that others might succeed. She rented the Sierra Madre Playhouse and organized and advertised a variety show in which many performers showcased their talents. Marcielle didn not make a cent. The event made of $800, and she did not even take money for her own costs of theatre rental, champagne and food reception, and many other costs. This was for the Coalition Against Hunger and Homelessness.
Marcielle has organized the Literacy Campaign, two Celebration of Banned Books with International PEN Center West,
Valentine’s Peace Project, and numerous others.
Help Marcielle to continue to help others.
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Universal Image Productions
Marcielle Brandler
PO Box 1201
Sierra Madre, CA 91025-1201
