So much depends upon and other poems
Signals from the fringe
Telephatic Lines
Swerve of high tech roller blades―
Not those antediluvian metal Edsels
So incapable of transcending gravel―
But those sugar-coated rollers:
Gliding waltz, ballet grace,
Lifting knee pads high, figure eight,
Touching toes, guffawing in reverse.
Count down…3... 2... 1....
Cartwheel and lift off into
The stratosphere, eardrums wired into
Inter-stellar muse within
The crash helmet of astronauts.
Weaving through pedestrian wayfare,
She sweeps by plenipotentiary
And pariah alike, leaps sidewalk curbs
As if dodging asteroids.
Watch her spacecraft streak by:
She opens telepathic lines to
Earthlings or whatever creatures (???)
Are presently orbiting 51 Pegasus!!!
Elysian Haven Sonnet
Utter, unutterable subliminal, seek I, O Lord!
After each dreary cruise to/ from the office―
When I sail to Byzantium through traffic fiords
And scent the Myrrh of restaurants―I dream thy kiss
Of bliss whilst I linger before the T.V. the nights,
My soul desirous of thine Elysian Haven to rest,
Thine Alpha Waves reveal to me such Beatific Sights...
Thou know'st well what Ideal Stimulation in best!
Thine ecstatic lips manifest like warming French fries,
Moist, saline; and like the Sirens thy headphone lulls
Me with Eternal Harmonies from thy Divine Stereo;
Yet it's the plastic Flame that embers in thine eyes
That reels me mute (when plugged in) and then pulls
Me beneath thy slips into thy Sublime below!!!
So Much Depends Upon
Firmly tied by the feet,
Upside down they dangle
Upon handle bars…
I see them…
Trapped between the steel jaws
Of back wheel bicycle clamps…
Or carted in wire cages by motor-ped…
Sometimes I see them
Squawking like erhu strings
In 12-tone chords
Pluck! Pluck!!... Pluck!!! Pluck!!!!
Inside red/white/blue
Plastic zip bags.
And once in a while
I see old men and women
Squawking
Unable to control
Their own toddlers
Out of control
In split white diapers,
The bright sunlight
Revealing the flash
Of speckled goji berries
As they chase
White chickens
Across farm yards…
On the surface
It does not seem to be
That much different
Than sub-urban kids
Chasing dogs and cats
Except for the fact
That it’s not at all like
A Saturday afternoon
Barbeque…
Unlike there,
So much here
Really does
Depend
Upon
A scrawny
White hen
Beside
A rusty
Red
Wheel barrow
Swamped
In flood water:
The legs
Writhing,
The flimsy neck
Held
In firm hands
Over
The gutter...
Woman in Red Neon
In your rocking chair (knitting),
You look up, expectantly,
Smile-photo pose-
Lay your patchwork down.
The herd groans and chortles
Like students at a museum.
Instant cameras...flash...flash...flash...
Out for a midnight?!?!?!
(So aesthetic) the docent
Praises your poise, your curvilinear
Symmetricality, the texture
Of your make-up.
The hordes appear; disappear.
Noses press like putty on newspaper.
Don't you want their blood
For stealing that graven image???
Terrifying. Wearisome.
Waiting for [?!?!?!]
You/they stare―a postcard
Framed [red neon].
Postscript
Our Mindelo street guide
Tells us proudly
He's got one daughter
In the army;
The other, he adds,
Sends back the cash:
"Works in Amsterdam
Chez Madame."
NO(se) Nothing
What happened to you,
Lurking in the shadows
Of your Panama
Lawn mower hat???
Translation:
Qu'est arrivé à votre nez
Tricote, fripe, raye,
Et enveloppé dans la gaze???
Concerned:
—Open invitation to a closing door?
Or:
—A switchblade slash from your average daily carjacking?
Vindictive:
—An excavation from the Dead Sea?
Or:
—A tubular worm burrowing deep into irradiated smudge?
Sardonic:
—The pimple Ronnie Ray-Gun couldn’t pop???
Or:
—Three Mile Island fallout from your nearby open poetry reading???
Extraneous:
—Pinocchio’s snozz trapped in the whale belly
Of procrastinating self-delusion?
Or:
—The warts of your teacher, Mrs. Duffy, come to haunt you
From your elementary school years?
Explanation:
It’s really nothing
But an ulcerated scab
That once sprouted
Leaves like those
Of a marijuana plant
Before the tips
Were carefully pruned
So the green fingers
Would sprout
Even deeper, taller
And longer…
That is,
Until the
Rotten roots
Of the pest
Were finally
Eradicated…
O ! Basocelluraire
Ulcere classique
Fait fricassée
Par laser!!!
Translation:
No big deal:
Just a typical
Sun-soaked
Basal cell carcinoma
Fricasseed
By laser!
Invalids
Indeed, they are invalids; you must cater to their every whim. Their rooms must always be straightened, the sheets changed, the beds made, the floors vacuumed, the toilets sponged.
Many are so distraught that they cannot put coins into the soda or cigarette machines without being assisted.
Fortunately, most are toilet trained, so this will not be one of your duties; yet at all times you must be pleasant and gracious, and not the least bit condescending or rude―even if one of them should engage in some rather bizarre behavior.
It is you who must engage them in clever and witty conversation for they generally lack spontaneity and warmth. And because they are lonely creatures, and are so often too afraid to speak to others of their kind, they will go to extreme extremes to seek out your company.
Because they suffer greatly, you may have to seek out diverse odds and ends for them, such as aspirin and bottles of booze, late at night, or perhaps other favors, for they certainly cannot obtain these items on their own.
It is thus up to you to make their stay here successful and rewarding―even if it means spoon-feeding them at times.
How rewarding you make it for them can be judged in proportion to your tips.
- Artistic portrait of a young woman under neon lighting, reflecting the mood of contemporary performance art
- A marble bust of a historical figure adorned with a surgical mask, evoking themes of timelessness and pandemic-era surrealism
- Vibrant neon-lit portrait of a teenage girl, evoking the atmosphere of avant-garde performance art
- A marble sculpture of a historical figure wearing a medical mask, blending classical art with medical surrealism
- A striking portrait of a teenage woman illuminated by neon lights, captured as a still from a performance art piece
- A surreal depiction of facial anatomy, combining medical detail with artistic abstraction
Hall Gardner is an international relations theorist, editorialist, TV commentator, poet, and novelist. His many books on global politics, including Toward an Alternative Transatlantic Strategy (2021) in French and English; IR Theory, Historical Analogy, and Major Power War (2019); Crimea, Global Rivalry, and the Vengeance of History (2015); NATO Expansion and the U.S. Strategy in Asia (2013); and American Global Strategy and the “War on Terrorism” (2005), blend a historical and theoretical approach with contemporary international affairs and concentrate on questions involving NATO and European Union enlargement, the collapse of the Soviet Union and its impact upon China and Eurasia in general, the new arms race, and the global ramifications of the “war on terrorism.”
Gardner’s book World War Trump (2018) forewarned of Trump’s January 6, 2021, coup attempt. That book argues that Trump took an essentially neo-conservative approach toward US global strategy in his first term, even toward Russia. Now, however, in his second term, Trump appears, at least on the surface, to be following some of the policy recommendations made in World War Trump with respect to seeking peace between Russia and Ukraine, but he has yet to seek to implement a sustainable peace settlement with respect to Israel, the Palestinians, and Iran and between China and Taiwan, among other conflicts. As he is constantly shifting his views and policies, often with poor advice, Trump still does know whether he wants to be a Plutocrat, who is willing to appease rival states or else a bellicose neo-conservative Timocrat who advocates the use of force and refuses even reasonable compromises with adversaries.
Gardner’s book, The Failure to Prevent World War I, explored the causes of the so-called “War to End all Wars,” with a long-term focus on French strategy since the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War. His first two books, Surviving the Millennium (1994) and Dangerous Crossroads (1997), both forewarned of a dangerous Russian backlash, war with Ukraine, and the possibility of major power war if the U.S., NATO, and the European Union could not implement a new system of European security that incorporated Russian security concerns. Dangerous Crossroads was republished as a paperback by Bloomsbury in early 1995.
The latter works likewise warned that Russia and China would adopt a closer geostrategic strategic partnership going beyond a “marriage of convenience” in response to the revitalization of the US doctrine of “containment,” while China, in turn, would continue to pursue its goal of unifying with Taiwan with tacit Russian backing. Gardner’s next books, Averting Global War: Regional Challenges, Overextension, and Options for American Strategy (2007), which had warned of the Georgia-Russia and Ukraine-Russia wars, and NATO Expansion and US Strategy in Asia (2013), both outlined a strategy to prevent major power war, as did World War Trump and Toward an Alternative Transatlantic Strategy.
His edited book, The Ashgate Research Companion to War: Origins and Prevention (2013), researched the origins of global wars in history. In this book, Gardner develops a theory of polemology and critiques long cycle theory. His other edited books, Geopolitical Turmoil in the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean (2024); NATO and the European Union: New World, New Europe, New Threats (2004); The New Transatlantic Agenda: Facing the Challenges of Global Governance (2001); and Central and Southeastern Europe in Transition: Perspectives on Success and Failure since 1989 (Westport, CT: Praeger, March 1999), all deal with the political, economic, and social problems confronted by the new post-Cold War Europe.
His articles and editorials have appeared in The Realist Review, MEER, Other News, The Hill, The National Interest, American Affairs, La Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, NATO Watch, NATO Defense College, Russian International Affairs Council, and in the L.A. Times, Open Democracy, among many others. Gardner has been interviewed by the Christian Science Monitor, Courthouse News, The Pulse, TNT, Japanese Public Television (NHK): Global Debate Wisdom; Associated Press (AP), FRANCE 24, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Radio France International (RFI), Bloomberg News, RFO “Toutes les France,” Voice of Russia, Russia Today, Sputnik, Izvestia, VOA-China, VOA-Iran, C-NBC TV News, BBC World News (radio), MacLean’s (Canada), O Globo (Brazil), Agence France Press, and EuroNews, among others.
Gardner’s poems have been published in numerous anthologies, such as The Peace or Perish Crisis Anthology, Fire Readings, The Paris Atlantic, and on the MEER website. His poem “Vincent’s Room,” and its translation by Anne Gayet Turner, was chosen for National Translation Month (September 2021). His book of poems, The Wake-Up Blast (2008), represents 30 years of poetic protest. A selection of his poems, A Sub-Urban Landscape (Un-paisaje-sub-urbano), has been translated into Spanish by Camilia Rocca.
His first novel, Year of the Earth Serpent Changing Colors —which explores in literary forms the social and geopolitical transformations taking place in China and the world at the time of the Chinese democracy movement (April-June 1989)—was published in January 2023. In the novel, Mylex H. Galvin, an American Maoist who has been teaching English as a foreign language in Beijing since September 1988, finally begins to realize that no one in China really believes in Mao anymore (“Mao is Dead! Long Live Mao!”)…
The sequel, Year of the Horseshoe Bat—in Exile, was published in 2024, likewise by Edition Noema, Ibidem-Verlag, and distributed by Columbia University Press. The protagonist is Chia Pao-yu—a Chinese dissident who was rumored to have been captured and executed in China in the first novel after leading protests on Tiananmen Square. The rumors are a mere smokescreen: Chia was able to escape to Paris with the help of US and French secret services, religious groups, Chinese triads (mafias), and human rights NGOs. One group, the Foundation for Human Values Forever, hires Chia to work in Paris… Chia unexpectedly finds himself caught in a web of corrupt fundraising in the name of human rights…
Now professor emeritus of the American University of Paris, Gardner is working on two new books on global politics, a third novel to form a trilogy, articles on diverse subjects, as well as several books of poems.
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