Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Sphinx Modalities

Docility is much prized by parents and tyrants alike
A double edged sword, however, for the former
For independence and agility of thought are also to be imparted
Lest raising lemmings ends up being one's enduring legacy

Thus the dilemma of the sphinx modalities
The puzzle of how we readily yield to authority
The virtues of critical thinking, prized, yet only obtained with difficulty
Weighed against the duty of protecting one's neck, raw survival's necessity

Organizations too, confront the question, albeit from a different viewpoint
Marx, it was, that wrote of the narcotic effect of all religions
Seeking to explain the evident acquiescence to oft imprudent authority
The silence in the face of privation and, worse, this baleful docility

Outlining the process that leads to overvaluing the herd mentality
The masses' suffering, the false consciousness of conformity
The shackles that bind our traditional respect and shame cultures
The surplus value that opportunists can extract and capture

Juvenal would lambast the enduring appeal of bread and circuses
The dulling of the senses, leaving one prone to domestication tendencies
The suppression of the iconoclast, our embrace of convenient fictions
Perception is everything, such are the dangers of the cattle inclination

The sphinx is an awesome beast, typically lying in repose
But terrifying when it moves, with suddenness and exacting purpose
Mythical in its grandeur, it plainly traffics in concealment
Opacity and judicious revelation, keeping close its terms of discernment

And yet, force majeure, in times of emergency
We see what lies simmering beneath the surface
When societies erupt and break the mask
And tyrants are destroyed and taken to task

In the heat of moment, when they face the inevitable comeuppance
The warnings unheeded, the memory of their unbearable arrogance
From those earlier days when all we could do was to bear witness
Came the silent message: don't mistake my kindness for weakness


Aburi mask


He who tests the depth of a stream with both feet must be prepared to swim.

— Ewe proverb, Ghana

Sphinx Modalities, a playlist


A soundtrack for this note. (spotify version) see previously Nothing to See Here and All Available Indignities

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Writing log: September 11, 2022

Tuesday, July 08, 2025

We Don't Talk Politics

I saw him once in person, Eyadema père
Must have been a few months before his death
At ease in his dark suit and sunglasses, standing there
The big man, unsmiling as ever, impassive and stern

Almost forty years deep into his rule by then
His éminence grise was attending the gentle giant's inauguration
He stood out, sour minded, even as others were celebrating
The hard earned lessons fully learned by his subjects

None of my Togolese friends have ever discussed politics
No surprises, however, about his exercise of power
At that point, he was the longest serving African ruler
Everything had to pass through him, it was all about the money
Contracts, wives and daughters, all tributes to his authority
My Togolese friends don't talk politics, they won't be drawn
Still, unlike some of the others, he wasn't too flashy
The trappings of the personality cult weren't too ornery
Funeral minded however, there was no chance of a smile
A quick death for his enemies instead of a show trial
They laugh and cry like everyone but my Togolese friends don't talk politics
Favored client of Françafrique, pal of Jacques Foccart
All respect due to the Knight of the Legion of Honour
The indomitable son who received the Order of the Yugoslav Star
During our lost decades, he would even play the role of mediator
Sports, relationships, religion even, but my Togolese friends never mention politics
But the many prizes couldn't launder his reputation
The curdled bloodstains at the heart of a tyrant's reign
Lingering, the squalid and tawdry murders underneath it all
Worse still, the dynasty continues apace, his son succeeded him
Almost thirty years now
The silence of my Togolese friends weighs
Never once have they slipped
And so we discuss the weather


il etait une fois Eyadema

We Don't Talk Politics, a playlist


A soundtrack for this note (spotify version)

See previously The Conqueror's Catechism


There was a touch of poetic license if not despair when I wrote the above in 2023, I hoped then, and hope now, that a new generation would prove me wrong; 58 years should be enough, right?

...

Timing is everything
Observers are worried


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Writing log: October 23, 2023

Friday, July 04, 2025

This Fourth

This Fourth of July
Tariffs and a trade war
Inflation rising

Calls for regime change
The folly of wars of choice
The sound of bombs dropping

Rogues and damn scoundrels
Doing their worst, unrestrained
God bless America

But they got their tax cuts
And Supreme Court justices
The spoils of the feast

Big, beautiful bombs, then,
And bills signed in blood
And fraught with impunity

The half-life of dreams
Decay by design
A body drained of integrity


Amina-Toure Ghana must go to the USA



This Fourth, a playlist


A soundtrack for this note courtesy of Sault (spotify version)
Bonus beats: There will be no crying by Cleo Sol

...

The Strait of Hormuz
Motherhood and apple pie
Time for a ceasefire

...
No nation sinks to greater depths than when its government is obliged to listen silently to moral sermons preached by obvious scoundrels

— Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach


See previously: A Very Beautiful Thing!, Facilitate, You Voted For This (And Other Songs), and An Abundance of Caution

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Writing log: June 23, 2025

Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Not in the System

It's not going through; her look, understanding
She sees it all the time, the denials, the rejections
Could I see your insurance card again?
Yes... Please. So I can double check again
Would you happen to have an updated card?
This one might be revoked… possibly
At least that's… at least that's what they're telling me
Yes, uh-huh, it was rejected by the system

Yes sir, I entered everything
Check, perhaps, a summary of your benefits
Sometimes there's... there's a ... discrepancy
A field, yes... one field... once a field is missing...
You know, these things... these things happen
You may want to check with them
But it's not in the system

If you want to continue at this time
You'll have to pay out of pocket
And file a later claim for reimbursement
If you were in the system it would be automatic
But the choice is yours, do you still want the shot?
Or you can try again when you're in the system

...

She'd seen it all before, it was written
A veritable shell game, this healthcare system
Some make profits, the rest of us are victims
One day, one day, you'll have a seat at the table
One day, one day perhaps, you'll be in the system


Also known as the screen of despair

Not in the System, a playlist


A soundtrack for this note on the reggae side of things (spotify version)

I didn't get my flu shot that day, I was not in the system.

See previously: Default Deny

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Writing log: September 20, 2022