Friday Writings #144: To speak up or stay silent?

 

 

Hello again, dear Word Weavers!

Today I invite you to consider a poem by our regular participant Rajani Radhakrishnan:

It raises that vexed question, what are we wordsmiths to do in troubled times – especially in the face of the suffering, poverty, wars and effects of climate change we are all too aware of at present? Do we speak up to address those issues? Do we express political opinions which may in themselves cause more division? Do we instead focus on what goodness and beauty still prevails, so as to provide an antidote to the horrors?

Commentator Caitlin Johnstone recently said: 

All art is political. It either opposes the madness of the status quo, supports it, or distracts from it. Creating vapid diversions for people to sedate themselves with in a genocidal brainwashed dystopia on a dying world is a political act, whether you call it political or not.

That's a valid and fairly widespread point of view (as well as an occasion for guilt trips if we let it be) and one that's been around a long time. Still, it is a point of view, not The Unarguable Truth.

In my youth I sometimes wrote fiery political poems – which, by their nature, didn't stand the test of time. At present I have been mostly struck dumb by the current state of the world, shocked to silence. And yet I am fortunate that my own little corner of it, while not free from increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as fire and flood and their attendant hardships, is still relatively peaceful and comfortable. I do write about the day-to-day things, but often feel remiss in that I'm not addressing more serious issues. But then, I also wonder what good can poems and other forms of creative writing do, really, even when they address the big issues? They are unlikely to stop armies or halt the extinction of species.

Perhaps they have other uses? Catharsis, or release of troubling emotions? Swelling the voices of protest? Or providing relief from disturbed thoughts? 

Rajani's poem is a self-questioning, of course. In the comments at her blog she is quick to assure us that she doesn't seek to impose any strictures on other writers. Yet it's a self-questioning that many of us do – and no doubt we must answer it for ourselves.

I come back to a position I've always taken, that there should be no 'shoulds' in our field of expression. We can only write what is given to us to write, whatever that may be, and must trust that it will have value for those it reaches. 

I think most people feel frustratedly helpless about having any impact on the huge problems of our times. It could be argued that using our words is one thing we writers can do – THE thing we can do. There's a case to be made that doing nothing is bound to be ineffective, so it's better to be doing something even if we don't hold out much hope for results.

What do you think? How do you personally resolve these questions? 

For your optional prompt this week I invite you to answer, for your writer self, whether you think it's best to speak up or stay silent on difficult issues. I'm not asking you to take any divisive political stance – remembering we're all friends here, regardless of personal opinions – but to comment in a broader way on the question itself.

Guidelines: Prose or poetry, old or new, on prompt or not, one post per person, 369 words maximum excluding title and brief notes. (On the subject of speaking up or staying silent – noting that you may sometimes wish to include more lengthy notes which would take your word count way over our limit, we only ask that in that case you please keep them clearly separated from the main piece of writing so your readers can choose whether or not to include them.) Don't forget to have a look at what others share, leave a comment, and check back later in the week for any you'd otherwise miss.

Preview: Next week, Magaly will invite us to find inspiration in memories and dreams.

 

 

Photo by Marcus Spiske, free download.