Michael Allen is the author of “Thoughts and Reconsideration,” “A Danger to Society” and “When You Miss Me.” His work has a very oral rhythm that yearns to be heard more than read…
Most of Michael Allen’s poetry is not suitable for Target Audience Magazine. Nor is it suitable for any other print publication. Its unsuitability is not due to explicit or inappropriate or violent content—Target Audience readers can handle plenty of all that.
No, it is not suitable because, in print, much of his work comes across as a print recording of spoken poetry in a coffee house. His poems often (not always) feel jittery in print. Fidgety, even.
This does not mean the poems are awkward to read, but that they are very oral.
Oral?
The words used are clear, common, plain spoken, direct. Often the poem is reading itself to you. Reflected in that are the often song-like rhythms and rhymes. And, creating an extended atmosphere, many poems are pages long. Space is at a higher premium in print than time is at a live reading. In part this is because the poet lends a voice and presence to the words, and people enjoy letting language wash over them.
There are some famous poems in print that are long. HOWL is definitely very long. It has lived on for many reasons—but only the first third. There are two other sections that no one talks about. This is not to say that HOWL is not suitable to be in print, although apparently it is saying that. It just doesn’t work as well as you’d think. Ask any casual poetry reader who knows HOWL who Carl Solomon was…there’s your answer. Carl’s problem was that he came towards the end of a long poem.
All of the poems in Michael Allen’s book, “Thoughts and Reconsideration,” have a strong sense of oral rhythm, occasionally homing in on chants. It is easy to imagine a jazz piano quietly playing in the background while listening with eyes closed. Rhyming as to the oral performance atmosphere.
What are his poems about? His book is divided into themes such as Hate and Spirituality. A lot of his poems are about men angry at government and other parts of society. A lot are about men wounded by an ongoing lack of love.
Some of these men you may not want to meet in a dark alley, or date your sister.
I Hear You, Brother!
I can see it in your eyes tonight.
The waves roll by the sea tonight.
The wind that blows, will it carry you away tonight?
Will you stand or will you walk tonight?
Will you clench your fist or bow down tonight?
The winds that blow, will they carry you away tonight?
I hear you want the land. Hold on to your mother!
I hear you want the land. Hold on to your sister!
I hear you want the land. I hear you’ll fight your brother tonight!
They make us fight each other.
They pit us against one another.
Can’t you see? Can’t you see that brother?
I know you don’t want to do this, but they break us to that point.
Look in my eyes and see yourself.
Don’t worry about what they say or do!
Don’t worry about what they’ll put us through!
I was told this would happen to you!
I hear! I hear you, brother!
The situation is deliberately vague yet clear enough. Someone is really pissed off and getting ready to go out and do some damage. The narrator is encouraging the person to go out and do damage—to “them” not “us”. Who “they” are is never mentioned, and does not matter. The issue is a small oppressed group lashing out at its perceived oppressor and not at itself.
Who is “us”? Mention of “the land” could mean Indians—First Nations people were here first, after all. What matters is that there is a brotherhood between narrator and subject. Two men are arguing. They could be African American or bikers or really angry Amish. The point is, they just can’t take it anymore.
Whatever the situation, it has history. The narrator was the same, perhaps was injured and cannot go out. And the narrator has watched this guy, was told it would happen to the guy also, and now it is, and the narrator’s response is “I hear you, brother!”
Don’t fight your brother, fight “them.”
That many poems do not define “them” beyond “police” and “district attorney” lends the poems a Kafkaesque quality. The legal problems are never defined, but do not appear to involve unpaid parking tickets.
Oppression and the resulting anger appear frequently in Allen’s poems, and on occasion the characters are beyond angry. A military veteran, he describes himself as a danger to society in a very long poem that cries out against corrupt police and other officials. It is the lengthy rant of one man against the world. This is not a healthy world view, and Allen recognizes the dangers, and describes well the inner turmoil and confusion. The poem is too long for this review, but here is the beginning:
A Danger to Society
You think I’m crazy. But, that don’t phase me.
All the tactics in the world can’t haze me.
Straight out the “Corps.” That makes me hardcore.
Now, you’ve got me double guessing what I served for.
Starting to destroy our own.
Better leave me alone.
Crack every hypocrisy.
Let you back off of me.
I paid my debt. You better bet.
You wish you hadn’t screwed me over like that.
Now I’m roaming free. So, I’m going to be
A danger to society.
I was forced to face me. Now you’re forced to face me.
If you’re not scared to face me. A danger to society.
For such characters, life is a bitter journey with few good choices. Anger and lashing out are the first stages. But life is a journey with surprises, if one is open to them. For example, so far one would think that Allen writes only about angry people and is full of rage.
However, what hasn’t been mentioned is the undercurrent of faith—Christ and Christianity, specifically, direct and indirect—throughout his writing. Usually it is not explicit. But redemption comes through finding strength inside, including unleashing the “fury” of emotions so something constructive and not destructive happens. Some characters seem bent on violence, and they are doomed. Others find an inner strength and path.
Many poems address bewilderment at emotional betrayal. It is less that a love damaged the narrator than there are no loves out there. Immediate, current relationships are usually absent, with the narrator concerned about a past lost love or the lack of any future prospects. These feelings give rise to anger.
In Finding
When the whisper is your friend, do the shadows ever end?
Will cold voices dare to say?
Dancing hatred in your head telling lies better left unsaid!
Will cold eyes dare to stay?
The rushing winds breathe, makes hot desert air freeze.
Touch your mouth with the coal.
The battle cry becomes your voice as if you had any choice.
Opening the wings of your soul!
In Finding the peace from within. In Finding the strength to forgive.
We are forever In Finding.
In Finding someone’s dear love. In Finding the lives we’ve begun.
Forever, In Finding!
The balance that you strike, will that hold your curiosity?
Will what you have be good enough?
Or will the passion rise, spring up with deep fury burning?
To make your life more than it ever was?
In Finding the power down deep. In Finding the lives of our keep.
We are forever In Finding.
In Finding our magical stage. In Finding that wonderful place.
Forever, Forever In Finding!
Indeed, the search never ends. There is no way of knowing how it will turn out, but if one makes good choices at the beginning, the chances of ending up better are better. Is what you have good enough? If not, then perhaps it will never be good enough. The answer lies somewhere else, and life is a journey to find it.
Learn to Grow Up
Why can’t I have just a minute of happiness?
Why can’t I feel just a moment of sun?
When my days on earth have all been spent,
Will my legend be life enough?
Will I have done all the things that I should have
When my ashes are dropped to the bottom of the sea?
Will I have done all the things that I could have?
Will a celebrated welcome be waiting for me?
You can grow up and learn to die happy
or just grow up and learn to die!
In our world, we soon learn the truth.
There are no guarantees. Nothing to soothe.
So this just keep between you and I.
You can grow up and learn to die happy
or just grow up and learn to die!
In short, part of the secret to happiness is accepting what you cannot change, a faith-based approach. You can be cheesed off about the world, but “there are no guarantees,” so grow up. A lot of time can be spent on regrets. Few of us feel we have lived up to our compete potential. Will a big welcome wait for us in the afterlife because of all we have achieved, or is any welcome based on something else?
A life lived in expectation is doomed to despair, setting yourself up for failure most times. But if you keep your goals reasonable, in the here and now, and concentrate on being happy (and croaking happy), then you’ll truly grow up. It is the journey, not the last station. Find more Michael Allen at http://michaelallenonline.com/
