Media Ecology Poet Laureate

I notice that Camille Paglia has returned to blogging on Salon and so I thought I would post a message I sent to the Media Ecology listserve concerning the need for a Media Ecology Poet Laureate, and the greater need that I be that person:


I have received some inquiries as to whether the Media Ecology Association needs a Poet Laureate. More specifically, the messages seems to ask whether the Media Ecology Association needs me as their Poet Laureate. The question has been raised as to whether the publication of only one masterpiece qualifies one for such a position.

I would like to point out that "The Very Model of a Media Ecologist" is not my sole masterpiece. In fact, I understand that Camille Paglia is considering a sequel to her best selling book of poetry criticism, to be titled "Break, Blow, Burn - A New Hope," that would focus exclusively on my unpublished body of work.

Among the unpublished masterpieces to be considered are:

Ode to the Medium of a Grecian Urn

(In which I contemplate the relationship between the figures on the outside of the urn with the ground grain on the inside. This figure/ground dichotomy leads me to conclude that, to the ancient Greek, the content of the urn was of more importance than the urn itself. In fact, all Grecian urns have been shown using x-ray technology to have the words "su ejpaggeliva autou" underneath the erotic or Homeric or homoerotic etchings, which translates roughly as "your ad here.")

Beauty is truth, truth beauty -- Burma Shave.

Lacan and the Swan

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still,
and all of western literature lies helpless at his feet.

IM to His Coy Mistress

Hd we bt wrld enuff, & IM,
This cynss, ldy, wre n crm.

The Vast Wasteland

May Sweeps are the cruelest month,
breeding Idol clones out of the dead land.
......
I had not thought death had uncouched so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man's eyes fixed on the screen before his feet.

In a more popular vein:

Don't Think Twice, It's Derrida

It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
It don't matter any how.

Also included will be my continuation and completion of John Milton's planned tetrology, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained with:

Paradise Enhanced

Satan decides that serving in Heaven isn't such a bad deal after all.

Paradise Reversed

Unintended consequences occur when Satan develops time shares in heaven for souls who would not normally be able to get in. Complications ensue when Hitler and Mussolini move in next door.

Media Ecology Shakespearian Series:

Is This a Daguerre I see before me?

To Be or Not to Be: It depends on your abstraction level

It can be seen that I take my role as Media Ecology Poet Laureate seriously, especially considering the rate of pay.