By Scott Greer (1922 – 1996)

Scott Greer was Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Urban Studies at the University of Madison, Wisconsin, and also a published poet. His focus as a social scientist was the issue of globalization, in particular the issue of increasing societal scale which implied necessary subdivisions. That, in turn, leads to loss of common institutions and bonds of trust, according to his theorizing. He was a committed pacifist, often documented in his poetry. The poem is dedicated to another anti-war intellectual, Nazi-refugee Lucian Marquis, who had served in the American army in Europe during WW II and was vocally opposed to the Vietnam war, starting the very first teach-ins as a professor at the University of Oregon during the 1960s. Considering that the “massive shuddering currents we have wrought” are presently shaking up our world again with no solution in sight, I thought this poem would provide some reminder that we need to “take the measure of the force that burns….”

Photographs are of SoCal plant patterns, starkly geometric, given hat the notion of asymmetry of warring factions dominates my mind right now.

Today’s music was dedicated by the composer to the victims of fascism and war – specifically to the victims of fire bombing.