The Ruin of Eleanor Marx
Mark A. Murphy
January 2022
Song for Tussy II
We choose to love you like a Francophile
parce que le français est la langue de l’amour
We choose to love you like a child
parce que dans l’enfance nous sommes tous des tourterelles
We choose to love you like a sun rise
parce que dans son éclat nous sommes tous sans ombre
We choose to love you like a Petroleuse
parce que dans la Commune on trouve tous du coeur
Pocket Change
Doctor Aveling has relegated fraternity,
knowledge, women and family
to the dustbin of base desire, reducing
any memory of truth, love,
belonging to a fiscal exchange
So, the kiss in the dark subordinates
both public and private life to the logic
of value and price
The cost of fealty, FICTITIOUS
A promissory not worth ink or paper
Red Rosa
Freiheit ist immer die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden.
Rosa Luxemburg
Your suitcase of books is not needed now
Reading Goethe
will not save you
from the Freikorps who abhor Liebe
und Weiblichkeit
almost as much as they abhor Eleanor Marx
Luna Park is knee-deep in snow
You will not ride the carousel, shoot dice
or roll down the mountain
into the lake Today, Die Völkerschauen
is only a memory on paper
where the Western world
succumbed to the dogma of humans in cages
Alas, history is like a dance
marathon, fireworks display, or cabaret act
where the human creature crowds
to catch the mast-sitter,
‘tart aquarium,’ and zoological freak show
Where the ghosts of SPD and KPD
continue to bury Sozialismus
in the hope of yet another REVOLUTION
Song for Tussy III
We choose to love you in your reticence
for any shyness only belies your rebel spirit
We choose to love you in your poverty
for the burden shared is a burden halved
We choose to love you as our equal
for any parity must first begin at home
We choose to love you for your ideals
for none have fought our Cause like you
Far Within Us #6
Savoir que nous n’avons plus rien à espérer
ne nous empêche pas de continuer à attendre.
Marcel Proust
Accept the gifts of the poor poet
kneeling to your left
as you shoulder the ponderous rock
Not just a time traveller
but a man in search of a last crusade
He who sows blossoms where the frost lies
A man who wants to live
Du domaine de la nécessité
au domaine de la liberté
He will not leave you riddling ashes
Climbing walls
Hanging on a star
Accept the gifts of the poor poet
Now wading in beside you
Accept the ever-viewless night
Gresham’s Law
for John Bolton
No use for the Machiavellian six-pence
always looking for the upper hand
No use for the unpaid debt
losing all value in the face of insolvency
No absolute goodness to love
only the bad driving out the good
No absolute goodness to flat money
only the promissory note
No absolute goodness to speculation
only the revelation of doubt
on which hearts are broken and lives lost
From The Ruin of Eleanor Marx, a collection of poetry due out from Moloko Plus this Spring.
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Mark A. Murphy has poems forthcoming in Cultural Weekly and Acumen. He has published seven books of poetry to date, including, ‘Tin Cat Alley & Other Poems: Not to be Reproduced’ by Venetian Spider Press, 2021. He is the editor of the online journal, POETiCA REViEW.
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