Why a Hermit?

Poetry may inspire directly, or it may do so by first challenging the reader. These two poems, "Why a Hermit?" and "The Truth-Tellers" don't, in any obvious way, point the way out of predicaments. Instead, they draw attention to what is wrong with the picture of society.

Whether it's the American, Canadian, English, Australian Dream, or any of a variety of other national dreams, competition clearly becomes negative and overall destructive when democratic government itself is subverted for the sake of connected individuals' personal gain. That is the backdrop to these two poems. What occurs in each is testimony to the frailty of social fabrics, and the very real consequences of a society poisoned by cruel and negative competitiveness.

The ways out are not pointed to; the only purpose of these poems is to make an argument that there are influences on our society that are destroying individuals, and our collective future.

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