Poem of the Day: “Twentieth Century Chinese History (Revised, Again)” by John Reinhart, Frequent Contributor and Poet of the Week

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “Twentieth Century Chinese History (Revised, Again)” by John Reinhart, a Songs of Eretz Frequent Contributor and this week’s Poet of the Week.  Mr. Reinhart’s biography may be found in the “About Our Editor & Frequent Contributors” section.

Twentieth Century Chinese History (Revised, Again)

John Reinhart

Mao Zedong studied

rural pheasants

on the road

to becoming chair man.

His studies

inspired

the revolting culture

of the 1970s.

His little read book

fanned the flames

of incontinence,

arousing the people

as nothing else

since the Brutish

Idiom Wars.

Mao

ruled by farce -

Chinese people

waved the right colors

or dyed.

Not everyone

supported Mao’s

Commonest Party

and many people

wanted to have their own

parties.

In China's

Tinman Square

one man

with a lot

of heart

stood

in front

of a tank.

Poet’s Notes:  I stand in front of high school students several hours a day. Sometimes they write me the most amazing and inspiring lines, many of which I had adapted for this poem. I actually think that one of my students believed Mao studied pheasants. It says a lot for nature studies that pheasants' behavior should have changed the course of a century.

The actual poem started with the tinman. Of his quartet, the tinman is most emblematic of our frozen society. While the atmosphere warms, our hearts cool. Ultimately, the lion's lack of cœur-age is also a heart condition as is Dorothy's desire to go home. The scarecrow is redeemed by his heart, not by his lack of brains, or acquisition thereof. Though the poem focuses on China and the nameless man from Tiananmen Square, the scenario plays itself every time we stand up for humanity over systems.