Fly: Selected Poetry (Available To Order)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1978105096
"Steve fly Pratt provokes the reader into a notorious intellectual ghetto, conspiracy theory. His methodology is susceptible to number of pitfalls. It is a daring genre. It is based on risks, like poetry or Bebop."--Christian Greer. The language of poetry requires a careful balance between spontaneous thought and various charging techniques, to pull down thought into alphabet and not stray too far from the laws. These words are shored from contaminated streams of consciousness, and deployed as snapshots. Brief excursions. Good poetry aims to charge language to a higher degree of meaning and i have no lesser aim to, power-up. Selected from writings started in America, Britain and for the most part, the Netherlands. These poems criss-cross between light hearted rhyming slang and exaggerated hyperbolic rap. Glossing everything from brexit to terrorism, facebook to John Coltrane, economics, psychedelics, anarchism, music and death. Sometimes hilarious, often cryptic and always rolling with rhyme, these scrawls bridge a decade or from the unique perspective of DJ, drummer and writer.
Love's in need of love today.
Love's in need of love today.
Over the last 24 days, great Britain has experienced a series of tragedies that have ripped through the heart of communities. The loss of life and the loss of trust are devastating, and i for one need to talk a little about my feelings on these events, and so move forwards with some clear answers to the lingering question of why?
The UK general 'snap' election, called by the PM also devastated and divided communities, families and friends. Although nobody died directly due to the election, it does not seem unreasonable to suggest that the two organized 'terror' attacks were somehow influenced by the timings of the atrocities, and, that it would seem to me to be the conservatives and right-wing who would benefit from such public insecurity following the attacks. Corbyn and Labour were openly attacked by opponents for being soft on security, and for wanting to negotiate rather than 'push the button'. Fortunately it seems that not all voters were tricked by fear into voting for the right. Corbyn and Labour made great gains in both votes, seats, and new membership, following the election.
The Grenfell tower fire will not be officially recognized as a 'terror' attack. However, based on the evidence building up, a combination of housing projects managers, landlords, MPs, and the PM herself, indirectly caused extreme terror and loss of life. The measure of how consciously they inflicted this terror remains to be quantified. In contrast with the certified 'terrorist attacks' only weeks before, we can begin to see how some people view government and state sponsored 'domestic' terrorism, by way of passing laws, removing free services and putting citizens at unnecessary risk (if they don't have enough money to pay for extra protection themselves).
For example, consider the drone strike, who is 'solely' responsible? those who designed built it, those who fly it, those who order the strike, those who do not speak out against it? They all played a role, but to try to figure out one individual, a scapegoat, for the larger layered complex of causation, becomes increasingly difficult in a world of technological automation. "it wasn't me, skynet did it!"
With the case of Grenfell Towers, i found a personal connection to the plight of the residents, and the local action groups calling for better safety measures, and getting consistently ignored by those who are supposed to listen and mediate the public will: MPs. I have experienced this with local government, and know many people who feel the same way. MPs have trouble listening or acting upon the will of the people, when it has regard to public infrastructure, and comes from the poorer classes.
We share the feeling that without a lobby group and a couple of million pounds it's very hard, nearly impossible to be heard, never mind actually change official policy or get what it is that you want e.g universal basic income, cap on tax loopholes for the super rich, a new swimming pool, clearer signage, legal medical and recreational cannabis)
Yes, the new digital 'clicktavism' works, and the internet can provide a way to bring up important questions, and ensure some points get a fair hearing in parliament. Plus, digital petitions can effect companies and individuals directly, when constructed well enough. Compared with trolling, however, digital petitions are but a drop in the ocean, out there in the big waves digital shit stirrers can now impact the minds of the people in ways both 'clicktavists' and politicians can only dream of.
Enter (the media) or better yet, the UK tabloid press, spearheaded by the wig three; The Sun, The Daily Mail and the Daily Express, and followed by a 'shatalogue' of publications and broadshits that get their kicks from churning up of the emotions, like a good poet, but in order to sell more shit, and/or influence your vote on behalf of the biggest donor, usually the 'Conservative and Unionist Party', based on all previous spending figures.
There is a hatred going around--and an undefinable counter-force made of love, understanding, knowledge and imagination--which disturbs me. A language of violence and retribution which i've only ever witnessed first hand in some movies and violent TV shows. A surge of people who once never even contemplated writing, now make pale threats and loud mouthed accusations, often racist, sexist, bigoted and always overly subjective, on social media platforms.
I am personally worried about this phenomena, and hope to draw attention to it, and open up a conversation. We need to talk about the far right. We need to talk about white privilege. We need to talk about race, identity, place and certitude. It's too easy to have fun together, a little chit chat, a shared picture here, and a nice tune there. Meanwhile underneath, hatred and venom brew. Perhaps Facebook is not the arena for this conversation. I envision something along the lines of a far-right rehabilitation zone. With the finest collection of comedians, neuroscientists, logicians, poets and public speakers that can roll with any punch thrown, and yet still never take oneself too seriously. To bring up the comic side, to balance with the trending tragic, and to sprinkle all with love light and laughter.
"It's up to you, cause, love's in need of love today, don't delay, send yours in right away, hate going around, breaking many hearts, stop me please, before it's gone to far."--Stevie Wonder, Love's In Need Of Love Today.
--Steve Fly
Amsterdam
16/06/2017
https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/londoncommunity/grenfell
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/westandtogethermanchester
Stevie Wonder - Love's In Need Of Love Today from MjDaTruth on Vimeo.
Over the last 24 days, great Britain has experienced a series of tragedies that have ripped through the heart of communities. The loss of life and the loss of trust are devastating, and i for one need to talk a little about my feelings on these events, and so move forwards with some clear answers to the lingering question of why?
The UK general 'snap' election, called by the PM also devastated and divided communities, families and friends. Although nobody died directly due to the election, it does not seem unreasonable to suggest that the two organized 'terror' attacks were somehow influenced by the timings of the atrocities, and, that it would seem to me to be the conservatives and right-wing who would benefit from such public insecurity following the attacks. Corbyn and Labour were openly attacked by opponents for being soft on security, and for wanting to negotiate rather than 'push the button'. Fortunately it seems that not all voters were tricked by fear into voting for the right. Corbyn and Labour made great gains in both votes, seats, and new membership, following the election.
The Grenfell tower fire will not be officially recognized as a 'terror' attack. However, based on the evidence building up, a combination of housing projects managers, landlords, MPs, and the PM herself, indirectly caused extreme terror and loss of life. The measure of how consciously they inflicted this terror remains to be quantified. In contrast with the certified 'terrorist attacks' only weeks before, we can begin to see how some people view government and state sponsored 'domestic' terrorism, by way of passing laws, removing free services and putting citizens at unnecessary risk (if they don't have enough money to pay for extra protection themselves).
For example, consider the drone strike, who is 'solely' responsible? those who designed built it, those who fly it, those who order the strike, those who do not speak out against it? They all played a role, but to try to figure out one individual, a scapegoat, for the larger layered complex of causation, becomes increasingly difficult in a world of technological automation. "it wasn't me, skynet did it!"
With the case of Grenfell Towers, i found a personal connection to the plight of the residents, and the local action groups calling for better safety measures, and getting consistently ignored by those who are supposed to listen and mediate the public will: MPs. I have experienced this with local government, and know many people who feel the same way. MPs have trouble listening or acting upon the will of the people, when it has regard to public infrastructure, and comes from the poorer classes.
We share the feeling that without a lobby group and a couple of million pounds it's very hard, nearly impossible to be heard, never mind actually change official policy or get what it is that you want e.g universal basic income, cap on tax loopholes for the super rich, a new swimming pool, clearer signage, legal medical and recreational cannabis)
Yes, the new digital 'clicktavism' works, and the internet can provide a way to bring up important questions, and ensure some points get a fair hearing in parliament. Plus, digital petitions can effect companies and individuals directly, when constructed well enough. Compared with trolling, however, digital petitions are but a drop in the ocean, out there in the big waves digital shit stirrers can now impact the minds of the people in ways both 'clicktavists' and politicians can only dream of.
Enter (the media) or better yet, the UK tabloid press, spearheaded by the wig three; The Sun, The Daily Mail and the Daily Express, and followed by a 'shatalogue' of publications and broadshits that get their kicks from churning up of the emotions, like a good poet, but in order to sell more shit, and/or influence your vote on behalf of the biggest donor, usually the 'Conservative and Unionist Party', based on all previous spending figures.
There is a hatred going around--and an undefinable counter-force made of love, understanding, knowledge and imagination--which disturbs me. A language of violence and retribution which i've only ever witnessed first hand in some movies and violent TV shows. A surge of people who once never even contemplated writing, now make pale threats and loud mouthed accusations, often racist, sexist, bigoted and always overly subjective, on social media platforms.
I am personally worried about this phenomena, and hope to draw attention to it, and open up a conversation. We need to talk about the far right. We need to talk about white privilege. We need to talk about race, identity, place and certitude. It's too easy to have fun together, a little chit chat, a shared picture here, and a nice tune there. Meanwhile underneath, hatred and venom brew. Perhaps Facebook is not the arena for this conversation. I envision something along the lines of a far-right rehabilitation zone. With the finest collection of comedians, neuroscientists, logicians, poets and public speakers that can roll with any punch thrown, and yet still never take oneself too seriously. To bring up the comic side, to balance with the trending tragic, and to sprinkle all with love light and laughter.
"It's up to you, cause, love's in need of love today, don't delay, send yours in right away, hate going around, breaking many hearts, stop me please, before it's gone to far."--Stevie Wonder, Love's In Need Of Love Today.
--Steve Fly
Amsterdam
16/06/2017
https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/londoncommunity/grenfell
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/westandtogethermanchester
Stevie Wonder - Love's In Need Of Love Today from MjDaTruth on Vimeo.
Love and Hate and tolerance rants.
After studying the works of Robert Anton Wilson for over 20 years, i can't shake this general love for all humanity and the ongoing practice of tolerance and forgiveness, at the heart of his works. When his daughter was beaten to death, and they found the culprit, he and his wife did not call for the death penalty. Instead, they managed to find it within themselves to forgive, and even love the murderer. I wonder why forgiveness can make many people so angry? who continue to bang the drums of retribution?
I get the impression from social media, especially Facebook, that this angry mob have studied torture techniques, writing without missing a beat, of what they would 'do' to their enemies. Anything like a fair trial, or non-violent punishment is simply out of the question for them. Angry people full of hate want to get even and inflict an equal amount of suffering upon their enemies. The cycle of violence and retaliation continues. The work of RAW has been a countermeasure to this kind of certitude, and hate fueled ignorance. I sincerely wish more people would read his work, and have the courage to act upon it.
I do not expect an immediate change in the minds of the people that most matter to me, after this UK election tomorrow. These people are those i know who choose to vote conservative, and in particular those who lean to the right (and are not rich) rich to mean, say, own property worth over half a million quid! Of course, dude, the concept of rich is relative. r e l a t i v e. I have a few rich friends who i respect and admire, and who are not nasty or ignorant, i want to add.
Compared with most of the world, the poorest people in the UK are pretty well off. Yet, at the other end you have the billionaires, who it's easy for me to understand, may have an interest in voting for whoever is best for their business. Self interest is a natural human condition, i understand and i can respect you. Good luck. Yet, those few who seem to have a hatred for Corbyn and the left principles of social justice, human rights, national basic income etc, and who exhibit a hatred stronger than their love for the conservatives baffle me. A typical line i hear is 'they're all liars' and then...'I'll never vote for that...insert ad-hominem waffle...' about Corbyn. Like something straight off the front page of The Daily Mail, The Sun. You know what I'm talking about: tabloid news for the sad droid blues.
One common thread between both ends of this conservative voting, that i have noticed, is that both the rich and strategically smart, and the relatively poor and angry (my own binary division) become ignorant to what they don't 'like', or don't agree with. They tend to show a low tolerance for new information (neophobes) Don't get me wrong now, dear readers, cognitive bias, media bias, and the conceit of scholars are not limited to conservatives. This seems to me like one major truth for us all to face: we colour and make the world as we like it, editing out what we want (usually simply what we don't like) both consiously and subconsciously, way more than we often realize. 'we are all greater artists than we realize' as Nietzche said.
An explicit example of this bias or ignorance seems to me to occur in the conservative right-wing, the ugly argumentative methods (you couldn't really call it debate) act more in line with the concept of fillabusting, at the high-brow end, combined with some neuro-linguistic programming and a shit load of data-intelligence (a.k.a Cambridge Analytica) for good measure. A powerful mixture. Oh, and lets not forget the rude and violent trolling which many alt-right groups (high and low-brow) have perfected recently.
Yes, the left (and those perpendicular to the left/right axis) also do this, but, perhaps in the tradition of Paul Krassner, Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, Robert Anton Wilson, Steve Coogan and other social activists. Their taste and sense for wit, even at the worst of moments, remains funny as hell to me. I am biased of course.
--Steve Fly
08/06/2017
Amsterdam
'If you push that button, your ass gotta' go'
...what necessary force
to protect and serve
by pushing the big
button
those insecure
calling for more security
naturally "protect me
save me, oh mighty one,
say you'll keep us safe by
pushing the button'
we demand the three
minutes extra life
before we get hit back
on the rebound
equal with the nihilist
terrorist philosophy
'let's wipe em' all out
every last stinking one of em'
plus family and friends
wipe em' all off the map
Can you feel the flinch
of the people's trigger finger
quick to revenge slow to forgive
insecure shaved chimps
kicked through Primark
ready to push the button to
save Top Gear
'It's fucking end times
quick act' i hear em; scream
kill kill kill
It's not often that
a relatively honest bloke
becomes a politician, even
less often with a chance to
lead the country
I find myself
agreeing with the chorus
most of the time
'they're all the same,
they're all liars
But no
stop!
Corbyn seems honest
to me
smart, and a man who's
keep his word,
and experienced with world culture
knows how to make peace
through communication
He's a poet too
i ask, who was the last
Tory to have a conscience
capable of poetry?
'push the button'
what a wuss' they cheer
how about you pull the trigger
of a loaded gun pointed at an
infants face, or you're own
mother gets her throat cut and
head removed in front of you
and the infant?
the 'will you push the button'
metaphor for mass murder
typified the Tory fetish
for drama.
Cant be easy for a human
being with a soul still intact
to murder, that most sacrilegious act
and furthermore the passive
complacency of your
tacit support of arms deals
and not free school meals
makes me sick to my stomach
drone strikes and suicide
bombings are equally acts of
cowardice
what ever happened to
gentleman's combat
fencing, martial arts, chess?
from a relatively fair
hand to hand contest depending
on physical strength, skill
strategy and a sporting fair
play to pushing buttons and
literally swiping people off
the map
whatever happened to common decency?
since the gun and the bomb and
the nuclear chemical biological warfare
coupled with white washed language
of surgical strikes and precision bombing
to protect and serve
by pushing the big
button
those insecure
calling for more security
naturally "protect me
save me, oh mighty one,
say you'll keep us safe by
pushing the button'
we demand the three
minutes extra life
before we get hit back
on the rebound
equal with the nihilist
terrorist philosophy
'let's wipe em' all out
every last stinking one of em'
plus family and friends
wipe em' all off the map
Can you feel the flinch
of the people's trigger finger
quick to revenge slow to forgive
insecure shaved chimps
kicked through Primark
ready to push the button to
save Top Gear
'It's fucking end times
quick act' i hear em; scream
kill kill kill
It's not often that
a relatively honest bloke
becomes a politician, even
less often with a chance to
lead the country
I find myself
agreeing with the chorus
most of the time
'they're all the same,
they're all liars
But no
stop!
Corbyn seems honest
to me
smart, and a man who's
keep his word,
and experienced with world culture
knows how to make peace
through communication
He's a poet too
i ask, who was the last
Tory to have a conscience
capable of poetry?
'push the button'
what a wuss' they cheer
how about you pull the trigger
of a loaded gun pointed at an
infants face, or you're own
mother gets her throat cut and
head removed in front of you
and the infant?
the 'will you push the button'
metaphor for mass murder
typified the Tory fetish
for drama.
Cant be easy for a human
being with a soul still intact
to murder, that most sacrilegious act
and furthermore the passive
complacency of your
tacit support of arms deals
and not free school meals
makes me sick to my stomach
drone strikes and suicide
bombings are equally acts of
cowardice
what ever happened to
gentleman's combat
fencing, martial arts, chess?
from a relatively fair
hand to hand contest depending
on physical strength, skill
strategy and a sporting fair
play to pushing buttons and
literally swiping people off
the map
whatever happened to common decency?
since the gun and the bomb and
the nuclear chemical biological warfare
coupled with white washed language
of surgical strikes and precision bombing
the sickness
combat has become a cowards game
pushing buttons, like a modern DJ
no strings or skins or horns in sight
not trying to reason with words
or martial arts but
big powerful buttons that can kill
millions in one go
imagine the most brutal violent
scenes from a movie
with 1000's of warriors fighting
from a birds-eye view
can you imagine how many
shots stabs and slices it would take
to kill 500'000 men?
'push the button'
the new slogan of the insecure
the cowards who live in
fear of anybody not them
they would willingly cut off
their own nose to spite their
face
--Steve Fly, Oosterpark
Amsterdam, 18.00 03/06/2017
the new slogan of the insecure
the cowards who live in
fear of anybody not them
they would willingly cut off
their own nose to spite their
face
--Steve Fly, Oosterpark
Amsterdam, 18.00 03/06/2017
Globividual
...follow my flip-flopping thoughts on
the left leaning individualist
and the right leaning globalist
stereotype
do they meet in the best poems
epic, and including history
doesn't the tragic comedy
wear sandals?
how to unite the individualist anarchist
and the globalist points of view
the ambiguity and the stew
sometimes i want to repeat
what Robert Anton Wilson sez,
but i can't play that tune again
same beat
left/right freedom ambiguity
individual freedom left
global capitalist freedom right
state freedom left/right left/right
anarchist freedom - perpendicular to left/right
you dig?
a binary (divisive) question:
do you consider yourself an individualist
or a globalist?
and how would you reconcile the other?
glocal lobal? what is that?
well, the frontal lobes and the planetary globe
as one.
one what?
how to unify the individual and the state
is the hard question for poets
and should be one for all humans
to think about
the tale of the tribe:
the globalist and the individualist balanced
yes, i am for globalism
in the sense of shared planetary
resources (Buckminster Fuller Models)
opposed to the global
unrestricted finance capitalism (Morgan Stanley models)
globalism without a top dog and
bottom dog scenario
without screwing the pooch
a better planet of fairness and so
shared resources and tools
oh, the ambiguity stirs, i can feel it
and the individual:
the unity of self-owning ones
each human being a sovereign entity
an individual whole be-ing
a mind brain body nervous system
this is the individual i mean
you and your shadow, the id'
as one consciousness
not really one, but the perception of
one, that is you, dear reader,
i think, your own bitter soul
the globalist and the individual
or the individual vs. the state
are co-dependent features of
the realities we endure together
i still wrestle with right/left
stereotypes, up/down
in/out around again all without
gain of agency,
the ambiguity in a rose
i am for both the empowerment of
the individual and the potential
functions of an open society
or state, on a global scale, yes
interplanetary cannabis seed plans
are underway
first get it into your head
we must learn to allow for distance between
people too, not just reinstate
everybody together in a multi-cultural
melting pot
sticking apart has benefits and uses
and to tolerate the
differences in your neighbour
even at a distance,
knowing they are having more fun
we must Honor the different
game rules
and remain ever
vigilant of foul play and those who make
the rules and regulate the regulators
and so on...
the aim of the tale of the tribe
in a peanut shell is
unity of understanding,
shared meaning and the
preservation of
humanities greatest works
both globally and
locally, and here lie the beginnings
of epiphany and synchronicity
I'll leave that for another day
so we can learn new ways to
love and respect and Honor
cultural differences through
music painting and theatre
plus academic and scientific
discoveries are all multi-cultural
global effort
still, people have a right to live
apart and a further responsibility
to tolerate each others
manias on our sphere
when shared these arts and tales
create a special unity
between people
unity understanding and with luck
a little compassion for the other
mono culture, on the other hand
enforced by censors and trolls
narrows the senses and
ignores the rest of collective
intelligence from around the entire
planet,
European, Indian, African, Asian
not just a love exclusively for
your own
genetic and blood relatives
and those around you
this is the great conceit of nations
the other great conceit is the conceit
of scholars
nationalism and patriotism
i agree, can have a positive force
when administered in equal
dose with globalism and
individualism,
as described write here
persistence of place:
you and your environment
merge
you and your friends
merge
i am you and you are me
and we are one together
one lobal glocal yokal gang
experiencing itself
what do you tune in when you turn on?
we are all in this together
entangled for eternity
tune into the others, dive in
--Steve Fly, Wijttenbachstraat, Amsterdam
18/05/2017
Dead souls and living memory
Dead souls and living memory
The child of refugees
fleeing from Libya
and the chaos of Col.
Gaddafi's insanity.
Missed-educated and lost to
some strong social psychological
forces, a dying mind and dead soul
consumed by who knows what
sordid influences,
ideological dogmatic selfish
known to some authorities but
forgotten, lost, escaped into
the void of violence to make
a final statement on the death
of the soul
Reason, humanity, love,
forgiveness, strength did not reach
him in time
this young boy turned himself
into an ancient nightmare
a dead soul screaming death
a coward’s way out
the way of the unfeeling
unthinking idiot
to strike the innocent and
the young, and the vulnerable
in such a cowardly way
does not incite me to violence
i pity the death of a soul
and meditate on the victims
who's healthy souls were
snatched away from the body
sorrow, sadness and heartache
are a part of the process
let peace rain down and
may we educate and nurture
all the children, all the mothers
fathers, sons, daughters,
hatred is good for nothing
all i see are bombs
everywhere going off
shells and mortar
nails and bolts and hatred
packed inside ready to
explode all over some poor
bastard
you might think bombs would
be outlawed by now
but no, business is booming
in 2017
both foreign and domestically
bombs are big business
and the fear they bring is
music to the ears of the click
bait corporations,
also without soul,
without empathy and the ability
to think from another
point of view POV
and so multiple points of view
becomes a weapon in the fight
if you want to really fight,
write true
MPOV panorama flash
bang in the middle of the drama
full HD terror relentless
half truth, broken up by adverts
for soap, insurance, watches and
the latest Hollywood terror flick
change the channel,
no turn it off, get with yourself
your family and friends,
or gather your multiple thoughts.
turn it back on
don't let me or anybody else
tell you what to do
think for yourself
check the mail, the sun, the
ugly disinformation, terrible
mistakes, and weird
dull conspiracy, nothing new
everything old, recycled
same old age old war
over the ineffable
some might say
intelligence failure
this is always true
known to intelligence
are you
will you be
did you used to be
really
blown from coincidence
known to intelligence
what is
what will be
what isn't what should be
really, again, but surely
known to intelligence
but wait what of
the company the bureau
the agency who claim
such high general knowledge
are they too
known to intelligence?
are there too many suspects
too much noise
too many corporate profinterest
too many old boys?
known to intelligence
or willfully ignored
no trace just bodies
terror and little information
to keep the enemy unintelligent
a tactic
known to intelligence
little did he know
less did he show
nothing ditto
all election campaigning off
but we know who shouts
loudest and who the media like to
amplify and increase the range to
terrify, sly dogs of war
confrontation
narcissism and eternal lyric
of 'it is'
the isness' of idiots
unable to consider more
than a second
without a third or fourth way
blind to the others
drowning in certainty
no air to breathe
cause and effect
punish and reward
so fucking predictable,
what to blame outside
turn it off again,
and now back on
show me the terror
i need to see it,
now off, it's bedtime
the nightmares better
than the waking forces of
political media overkill
on repeat on repeat
death dying destruction
low information,
obscured, lies.
terror now a currency
a valuable force to get more
re-tweets and likes,
more views and more followers
the architect of misery, revenge
the reactionary uncontrolled
violent idiot
full of hatred and madness,
full of sadness
heal time heel
--steve fly, 23/05/17.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)