what cruel and capricious nature
deigns to spin these spectacles
to weave the warp and weft
till I and you and we are left
small bits of enchanted stars
sewn together through the unending
to a point of barely comprehending
that we are, and cause, the scars
that keep us up at night in fearful wonder;
are we spirited God-given gifts
or crying dying monsters
born of loveless lightning ‘midst the thunder
Month: July 2013
An Unseen Baptism
it is the angry bold and black;
the boiling thunderhead’s attack
that spins the light to gold
some strange effect of darkness
that makes the air rich
a wealthy inheritance raining down
upon the eager up-turned faces
and upon the backs of heads
too tired, too wet to notice
their bathing in brilliance
too bent and borne down
to feel this sent and crashing baptism
that need not be cared for nor even seen
to effect a man and woman unclean, now clean
this boxed life
i want to open
this boxed life
to look at what’s in store
but then it changes
to see is to…what?
to kill? to birth?
what if i look inside
and find that i’m not there
no fire or broken desire
no grasping at truth
like a drowning man
gasping for air
just the dark
waiting to be fulfilled
Neill Blomkamp
Is it too early for me to declare Neill Blomkamp the best director of the 21st century? Maybe. There are lots of candidates with Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson in the running and 87 years to go…maybe I am being a little presumptuous.
As a child coming of age in the eighties who was actively involved in anti-apartheid demonstrations and activities while in university the morality plays that Blomkamp has been creating with District 9 and now the forthcoming Elysium are what I believe our world needs today.
Blomkamp uses science fiction as a vehicle to deliver moral, satirical and ethical observations about our society in the way Jonathan Swift did in Gulliver’s Travels nearly 300 hundred years ago – that is to say he uses science fiction as it was originally intended to be used, for social commentary (just wait till Blomkamp gets his hands on a Philip K. Dick novel).
Blomkamp is a 34 year old South African who emigrated to Canada at 18 and who brings all of his culture’s turmoil and moral struggle to bear in his films. He holds nothing back as he warns against the stratification of society where the haves get more and the have nots get less while any middle class is eradicated in the process. I am guessing Blomkamp would not be a big fan of Ayn Rand.
Everything Blomkamp does with his movies I love…he is brash and unapologetic. He is fast-paced and exciting and creates films that are designed to entertain AND deliver a strong moral message. This is a rare feat.
I should also point out it was Blomkamp who essentially discovered Sharlto Copley, an amazing South African actor who starred in District 9 and features prominently in Elysium. Copley is a brilliant actor who I hope ends up in every Blomkamp film the way Bruce Campbell is in every Sam Rami film.
What am I saying? Watch Blomkamp’s movies. Watch District 9 and pay close attention to the messages about racism, xenophobia, classism etc. Watch Elysium when it comes out and pay attention to those details as well…stay tuned to what Blomkamp is doing because ultimately he is telling the story of the universal and equal value of all people.
P.S. He is currently working on his next film Chappie, based on his short film Tetra Vaal about a robotic police force that patrols the slums of South Africa. I can already tell the film will explore the increasing temptation of countries to implement robotic weapons as a way of dehumanizing and distancing decision makers from the horrors of war. As far-fetched as this sounds the current existance of drones speak to this frightening area of development.
For more info on this issue check out The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots at www.stopkillerrobots.org
Dark
There is so much hate in the world; so much death; so much darkness; so much turmoil and envy; so much greed and hubris; so much gossip; so much of the crushing heaviness of expectation one can lose sight of all else.
How do we bear up beneath the weight of the world?
chain reaction
explosion…
forever ago
how far back
when was that first fusion
that singularity
that singular moment
of thrusting culmination
a contradiction of 1+1=1
this eternal chain reaction
where we bright ones
we brilliant atomic bombs
of potential energy
blasted our star selves
into the silver-coated fabric of everything
every seed a god or monster
R.I.P. Michael Raymond Cantelon
My Dad’s identical twin brother died on Canada Day. He was 70 years old.
It is a strange feeling. I don’t know what is going on inside of me at the best of times and this time is no different.
Uncle Mike left Canada about 40 years ago for the United States and never looked back. The family lost touch with him until about just over a year ago when he had a friend of his reach out to family members through Facebook. His message – I am still here and I want family to know I still love them.
I have no idea why he left except that his early years were tough. We’ll leave it at that.
My dad, Peter James Cantelon, died at the end of 2011 of what might be called the consequence of a very hard life, most of which he brought on himself. I had the opportunity to perform his funeral and graveside service and this has proven to be healing.
I do not have that opportunity with Uncle Mike. He will be buried by his friends this Sunday and this gives me some comfort because those friends have become family to him.
It was always strangely wonderful to me that my father had an identical twin brother out there. A literal clone. After my dad died it was comforting to know that there was another person out there, related to me, who was an exact physical copy of my father. A paternity test would indicate both my dad and his brother as my father because they were genetic duplicates. This has a way of playing with your mind. I think I believed that I would have an opportunity to see my dad again in my Uncle Mike.
My dad was a broken man. He was very broken. Given his life and the choices he made many would have called him evil. Nevertheless I loved him.
My Uncle Mike, for all the genetic similarities and upbringing was a different person. Everyone who knew him tells of a gentle, kind and friendly individual; Someone who was a good human being and friend.
While it may be inappropriate I have sometimes come to see my dad and his twin brother as two halves of one person. I know that they had a profound connection and love for each other. I learned that Uncle Mike’s memorial service will be in a Bingo hall because of his near fanaticism with the game. I wonder if he knew that his brother Peter was also pretty much addicted to Bingo? I am guessing Uncle Mike probably never swore at and threw bingo dabbers at the callers for calling too slow (Dad was known to do that). I wonder about Uncle Mike’s dying just a year after his brother. 70 years old is not considered old these days in terms of lifespan.
I wonder if his brother’s death weighed on him? I cannot imagine being a twin and separated from my brother for 40 years. It seems like this would be difficult.
With Uncle Mike`s death my dad is now fully gone in a way he wasn’t before. I regret that I never saw him again before he died. I regret that I never even had a chance to talk to him on the phone before he died. I regret that I never wrote him a letter after he reconnected with family.
Death has a way of reminding you of the things that can no longer happen this side of the grave but it can also remind you of the things to be grateful for.
I am grateful for his friends and the care they provided to Uncle Mike in his final years. I am grateful that they are laying him to rest. I am grateful his death was peaceful. Ultimately I am grateful for him.
