two gnomes dance the celebratory hopaky
two gnomes dance the celebratory hopaky,
so youthful, so boisterous & so mercenary;
taking pride in manliness, in acrobatic jumps,
their feet propound a pure cossack narrativity.
but they are gnarly gnomes, with their own structures &
codes. & they should be gnoming rather than cossacking,
practicing oppositional politics or the
poetry of non accommodation, becoming
more structuralist in their outlook. for gnoming is
political in the same way african farmers
hid behind trees & picked off colonial soldiers
who stood perfect targets in fields & in formation.
gnomes playing cossacks? a postmodern travesty!
©Joseph McNair;2009
two gnomes dance the celebratory hopaky,
so youthful, so boisterous & so mercenary;
taking pride in manliness, in acrobatic jumps,
their feet propound a pure cossack narrativity.
but they are gnarly gnomes, with their own structures &
codes. & they should be gnoming rather than cossacking,
practicing oppositional politics or the
poetry of non accommodation, becoming
more structuralist in their outlook. for gnoming is
political in the same way african farmers
hid behind trees & picked off colonial soldiers
who stood perfect targets in fields & in formation.
gnomes playing cossacks? a postmodern travesty!
©Joseph McNair;2009
This is amazing! I would love to know the meaning of those far out references. They seem so crazy that they must be right. Who do they symbolize? What is the practice of Cossacks and Gnomes? I suspect it is a brilliant reference just beyond my understanding. I will listen again.
ReplyDelete:) Thank you for comments. I sent a response but it seems to be lost. It is the third comment that won't reveal itself. There is a little bit of gnome in all of us, that which is blithe & playful and unfit for the postmodern experience (Remember AJAX the foaming cleanser?). We have all sold out to one degree or another. I am not cossack but black. and the cossack in me is a magnificent symbol of spiritual rigidity acrobatically dancing on the edge. What good can come from staring at inkblots?
ReplyDeleteThis time, I do agree with what you see, Professor McNair. The pointy shapes remind of little gnome hats, and they seem to be meeting in the middle of the image as if they were holding hands, dancing. The pink, purple and other bright colors give this image a happy and ecstatic mood. The white blotch between the pink and dark of the two figures almost looks like a gnome's beard. And the pink with the bit of red above that white beard has the impression of a fact with pink, rosy cheeks. They seem to be bowing in their dance.
ReplyDeleteI think gnomes are a representation of something magical and childish within us all, no matter how old we become. Of course we all may not be physically young, but our minds can always remain youthful if we choose to.
ReplyDeleteThe poem illustrated the picture well. It made me see the actualy gnomes. Otherwise I'm not sure what I would have seen in that illustration.
ReplyDeleteIn the inkblot I see people enjoying themselves and begin happy while practing their religion. Which repsents the first part of the poem. However in the backdrop I see what seems to be more serious faces which can represent the last part of the poem of begin more serious.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happend to good ole non-conformitism. Perhaps the gnomes had no political asperations nor any desire to be caught up in such smelly business.
ReplyDeleteI see two the two gnomes dancing. I never really took the time to think about gnomes. To refer to them as african soldiers makes perfect sense.
ReplyDeletethis is the only picture that i could tell what it was without reading the poem. i liked it because its colorful and it looks like a happy moment. this helped me understand the poem beter since i knew what they were.
ReplyDeleteThe hopaky can be referred to as the coming of age. We all dance the hopaky in one form or another. Some of us take pride in our looks as the gnomes take pride in their "acrobatic jumps". And like the gnomes we all live by our own rules.
ReplyDeleteI see two gnomes high-fiveing and celebrating a vicory of some sort. Gnomes being stationary and mythological creatures the image of them doing acrobatic jumps is quite impractical. How can one celebrate life, when they do not exist in our "real world" this fantastical represention of youthful allure is quite refreshing.
ReplyDeleteooh, I also just noticed two gnome looking things faded in the background.
ReplyDeleteA spirit of enjoyment.It conveys mix messages but intention is implied.
ReplyDeletethe more i read the poem, the better i could see what was going on in the poem in the picture. i see these two gnomes being childish, and rebels.
ReplyDeleteIn this image i see two gnomes dancing there way out and celebrating something new coming to them or a news being said. Its coloful, demonstrates enjoyment and happiness. The faces in the back seem serious and not enjoying the dance but in reality we all have different ways of viewing things and showing are likes and dislikes.
ReplyDeletethe image looks like two gnomes indeed, they seem to be sharing hi-fives and celebrating something. this was my impression before reading the poem. It's quite interesting the perspective of the poem, the gnomes dancing and celebraring is a comparison to that of the Cossaks. It's very interesting ,something I would have never come up with.
ReplyDeleteGnomes have red pointy hats. I see both of them facing foward and there body at an angle. They are reaching for there hands. Without seeing there faces, I can see happiness and celebrating. The poem describes what I see.
ReplyDeleteThis image is really colorful so that first tells me that this piece joyful;. Secomdly, the poem give a very descriptive narrative of what is kind of going on in the piece and what should be going on in the piece. I also think that this piece is somewhat of a celebration, maybe a performance in front of others.
ReplyDeleteVery well illustrated.Depicts spirit of enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteThis picture looks like two men standing behind a pelvick. I think it resembles manhood. It looks like they are celebrating something. The picture seems to be celebrating itself.
ReplyDeleteThegnomes are attached to the old practices,so they do not see the importance to change. Teachers should be flexible and bring new ideas in the educational'ssystem(paradigm shifts)
ReplyDeleteThe pictures show the two gnomes enjoying themselves no matter what is going on. Which I believe the picture behind represents that. They don’t want to get involved in the political view. But I think they are very much in tune with themselves to be ok with their man hood. There are level headed enough to not care what people say and go to their own beat.
ReplyDeleteIn the background, I can see two faces, i guess they represent the two gnomes. In the foreground, I see two bodies shaking hands and dancing. I do not see them move, but I know they're dancing because of the poem's title. I think that the two gnomes represent people who do things they like instead of things that they are supposed to do. For example, a gnome would be a teenager whose parents want him to be a doctor, and he choses to be a basketball player because that's what he likes. I may be wrong, but this is my interpretation.
ReplyDeleteI see the two gnomes in the background of the picture but for some reason the picture right in the middle draws me to it. I can them dancing in the image but it doesn't tell me anything about the image. After reading the poem it seems to me like they are celebrating something. Like they are finally free of something that they have had to hide for centuries and are now finally free. Becuase they are gnomes they have be hidden or they have to be something that they are not.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with what you see. Alot of times these pictures usually have a sibliminal message hidden in it and nine times out of ten it represents much more than what the actual picture is showing.
ReplyDeleteI agree that I can see the two knomes dancing in the front of the picture. The faces in the background of the picture look stern and serve as a contrast to the joy apparent in the dancing knomes. My eyes were immediately drawn to the dancing knomes and when I looked for a longer time I saw the seriousness of the background faces.
ReplyDeleteIn the picture I see the 2 gnomes and they look as if they are dancing and celebrating. In the background I see a little bit more of a seriousness. The colors make the picture look alive and happy.
ReplyDelete