Abdication of Vocation
Robert Hughes spoke of the Aussie artist’s abdication
from Great art, despite early promise
The shorthanding into reportage & cartoon &
commonsense
Such is his internationalist perspective
It’s true, to a point
We shy from the tragic, the violent, the perverse, the
carnal, the primal
To prove we’re ok
Just one of the boys or gals
We’re safe for the children to watch
The good art we make in this country
Is kid’s songs & kid’s tv
Homiletic & cheerful
The morality of put on a happy face
& don’t take things too seriously
As opposed to an Artaudian farce
& its comedy cruelty
We are aggressively normal
& have no time
For the spastic within
The volcanic & the homicidal
The lust for power, blood & sex
Like Eliot’s hollow men
We live, work, feast & die “not with a bang
But a whimper.”
Published & Copyright Malachi Doyle 2024.
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