Rail Strike (#Haiku #RailRoads #Monday)

28 Monday Nov 2022

Posted by philsblog01 in Haiku, ILLUSTRATIONS, POETRY, VISUALS

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Haiku, Phil Gennuso Arts, PHOTOGRAPHY, POETRY, Political Eents, Railroad Strike

rail strike on the horizon
no one knows
what’s around the bend

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In the next few weeks, in the first half of December, we may be facing a major rail strike in the United States.
We were told back in September that agreements had been reached and a strike would be avoided but that storyline has faded in the last few weeks. A nationwide strike would, of course, be devasting, particularly given the somewhat weakened state of the economy.

Innocence / The Fool (#FridayTarot #MajorArcana)

26 Friday Nov 2021

Posted by philsblog01 in ILLUSTRATIONS, TAROT POSTS, VISUALS

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Innocence, Phil Gennuso Arts, Tarot, The Fool

Innocence / The Fool! We begin our journey!

The first card of the traditional Tarot deck is typically labeled The Fool and begins with the number Zero. Zero here signifies infinity or as a circle, a path with no beginning and no end. Many commentators also point out that this card, The Fool, travels through the other Twenty-One cards of the Major Arcana, and so the Major Arcana really documents The Fool’s journey.

For me this card always signifies Innocence. It signifies a new beginning, a fresh start. And yes, many times, when we start something new, we are fools, that is, we are inexperienced and perhaps naive. That is part of our journey. But our Innocence is our defense, our traveling companion through a world that is often jaded and corrupt, and tries to pull us in, to play the games, to always look out for Number One.

My card shows a young boy who is holding onto a fence with a somewhat tentative look in his eyes. He is a bit unsure but determined to make his way forward, no matter what. This is the way it is. Every journey that is worth the effort is surrounded by uncertainty. Even The Fool knows that! Yet if we are to do anything in life, our determination, which springs from our Innocence, carries us through those first steps.

In many ways we are Fools to even try, but our Innocence, the purity of our intentions, the loftiness of our goals and dreams, this is what protects and defends us and gives us the courage to go forward.

For me, that is the subtle duality of this first card of the Tarot!

When I draw this card, I am always thinking of new beginnings, new projects. Maybe I should finally start that new art work that I have been thinking about. Maybe I should tackle that short story or complete my website design and actually start the coding! Possibilities seem to just spring about, all the wonderful paths I might take. But I also am aware of hastiness, lack of preparation, wishful thinking. This is all part of this card.

With that said, I view this card, as very favorable for someone like me, who is always looking for a reason to start new projects and test new ideas! I think on the whole it is a favorable card for everyone.

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We start at ground zero,
taking on the past and present,
history’s sins and our own,
struggling up the hill with Sisyphus,
hoping this time
the stone of evil fates stays in place,
and the world can begin anew

We are all orphans,
we are all refugees,
only our innocence can protect us,
only our persistence
can sustain us on this journey,
the only journey we will ever know

The Bridge: Cape Hatteras Revisited (#TheBridge #HartCrane #SaturdayReview)

31 Saturday Jul 2021

Posted by philsblog01 in ILLUSTRATIONS, THE BRIDGE POSTS, VISUALS

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Cape Hatteras, Hart Crane, Phil Gennuso Arts, The Bridge

Preface

I started working on my illustrations for the Hart Crane epic, The Bridge, quite some time ago. They have all gone through many changes and my goal is to finalize them with commentaries and publish them this year. Here is my most recent graphic work along with my original comments for the ninth poem, Cape Hatteras.

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Original Comments

This is the ninth, and largest poem in Hart Crane’s epic, The Bridge. The location, Cape Hatteras, has important meanings for flight, and shipping. The airplane and Walt Whitman figure prominently in this poem.

It is important to realize that Hart Crane does not praise technology for the sake of technology, but rather, for the manifestation it exhibits of the human spirit. Hence the crashes, the greed of Wall Street, the wars, all of the bad things technology can do, stand in stark contrast to the promise, the potential, of a humanity centered in the spirit. The recurring theme is that America has not yet lived up to its promise, but because of poets like Walt Whitman, and ultimately, Hart Crane, there is a chance to restore the original dream, the original intent. That is the role of the true poet, to keep the dream alive!

Hart Crane here is explicitly, in no uncertain terms, carrying on the Whitman tradition, the poet of the true new world order, not based on money and power, but on a new type of human being, centered in the spirit and the myth, the creator, and the brother, becoming the poem that is the promised true story of America. His poem stands in stark contrast to The Waste Land, by TS Eliot, published in the same decade (1922), a poem that received much attention and critical acclaim. Hart Crane wanted his poem to answer the nihilism and skepticism of The Waste Land, and he found his hero, and source in Walt Whitman.

The verse is very dense, even more so in many ways, than in other sections of the epic. It is not unusual for Crane to telescope past, present and future in one verse. It gives this poem its power, but can make it a challenging read. I have chosen to create something of a collage with the airplane as the center of my image. I could have filled the collage with dozens of words, but I chose to keep it simple.

Please feel free to leave comments on The Bridge! I look forward to them.