Statement From the Poet
I did not set out to be a political poet, but extraordinary perils call for an extraordinary response. If that grand usurpation of the White House in 2000 (along with its phoney Election 2004 offspring) had merely inculcated a vicious regime, that would certainly have demonstrated how History repeats itself. But it would not have screamed with the apocalyptic alarm now ringing in the ears of prophets.
For this usurpation did not just advance the sordid
saga of human deception, but unleashed into the political
realm dark and monstrous forces -- forces intent on
annihilation and destruction -- that had hitherto
been chained below.
Yet I do not want to overwhelm the reader with messages
of doom and gloom. My political
poems, all of which are included on this Website
and accessible both by date
and subject,
represent only about one-third of my work in verse,
leaving plenty of room for other themes such as Music,
Love, and even the art of
Poetry itself.
Samples from these various collections are also posted
here.
My poetry aims not just to warn and exhort, or even
occasionlly to rebuke, but also to encourage, inspire,
uplift, and entertain. You will see I use footnotes
extensively throughout, to prompt the reader's further
explorations into the infinite worlds of imagination
seen by poets and seers through the ages.
I do not yet fully understand how biblical revelation
speaks to current events, but I do hear resounding
resonance with Scripture's references to the beast
that utters blasphemies (Rev. 13:5); the man of lawlessness
(2 Thess. 2:3-4); Satan masquerading as an angel of
light and his sons as servants of righteousness (2
Cor. 11:14-15); and to the abomination that causes
desolation (several references). Bear in mind that
the prophet Daniel, who coined this last phrase, was
also the one who interpreted the "writing on
the wall."
These times require again the vision of poets and
prophets, the true priests of divinity, truer to their
calling than a whole assembly of politicians (with
a few notable exceptions). Readers who are particularly
interested in how Christian themes pertain to current
events can go to 'Christianity, Hijacking of' in the
Polemics theme
page.
Keep safe.
Ian Reed
New York City
March 2005 |
