By AE Hines
No fuzzy face
resting on furry paws,
no whimpering from the floor.
Give me a fury,
with rusted metal whiskers
and nostrils heaving flame,
something nether-worldly and gnarled.
A beast, that dare I give up on the world,
stares from the darkened corner
and considers eating me
if I do.
It's true:
we have given ourselves over, again,
to the rule of evil men.
So we need a dog that bites.
A dog that gnaws us to our bones.
A three-headed hell bitch
fit for the River Styx, with brass bolts
in her collars, and bristling black fur
sharp as broken glass. A dog
that spits and snarls
and snaps at our ears
so we can't - won't - don't dare
look away.
The Importance of Arts, Culture & The Creative Process
Such a cultural exchange and collaboration, with its cross-pollination of mediums, in my view, is vital at this time when our systems of public education, particularly the humanities, are being starved into oblivion, and our political institutions are strained to the point of breaking. Corruption. Censorship. Revisionist history. So many voices are being silenced — drowned out by propaganda or individual exhaustion and despair. But we are not helpless. As artists, we must rally — to encourage and amplify each other, to shine a light on injustice wherever we find it, and ensure that our collective light is not lost.
