540 A CONTROVERSY OF POETS

Italy, Gennany, Denmark. Active in Pacitbt and Anarchist movements

since the 1940$.
'·An 'anarchist' does not believe, as some wrongly have put it, in so­
cial chaos. He believes in a state of society wherein there is no frozen
power structure, where all persons may make significant initiatory
choices in regard to matter.. affecting their own lives. In such a society
coercion is at 3 minjmllln & lethal violence practically non-existent. Cer­
tainly, there will still be situations where coercion may have to be exer­
cised to prevent something worse, but, as Ammon Hennacy bas demon­
strated in life, even maniacs with knives may be sometimes pacified
without violent coercion. A 'pacmcist' believes that better methods than
violence may almost always be found to solve sodal difficulties & re­
solve differences between individuals & groups. \Vb.i:e not a1J anarchists
are pacificists even now, & many pacificists are not anarchlsts, I think
all agree in regarding the individual person as being infinitely precious
& as �ing capable of cooperating with others for the good of all. Let
us add to these attitudes that of the Taoist, Zen Buddhist or Kegon
Buddhist wherein the elementary actions of the world itself & of 'all
sentient beings' are regarded as being on a level with those of human
beings in the narrower sense. One comes to a situation wherein 'even
plants have rightS' (one doesn't chop down a tree unless there"s a damn
good reason to). How better lo embody such ideas in microcosm tball
to create works wherein both other human beings & their environments
& the world 'in general' (as represented by such objectively hazardous
means- -as random
- -- - digits)
.... - au- able to- act
� are - within
-� the -��
-- general frame-

& the world 'in general' (as represented by such objectively hazardous
means as random digits) are aU able to act within the general frame­
work & set of 'rules' given by the poet "lhe maker of plotS or fables"
as Aristotle insists-the poet is preeminently the maker of the plot, the
framework-not necessarily of everythin g that takes place within that
framework! Th-e poet creates a siwa1io11 wherein he invites other _persom
& tbe world in general to be co-creators with him! He does not wish to
be a dictator but a loyal co-initiator of action within the free society of
equals which be hopes his work will help LO bring about.
.. That such works themselves may lead to new discoveries about the
nature of the world & of man I have no doubt. I baYe learned, for in­
stance, that it is often very difficult to teU, in many cases, what is
'chance' & what is 'cause.' There are kinds of inner & hidden causation
that arc 't'Cry difficult to distinguish, on the one hand, from 'chance' or
'coincidence,' & on the other, from 'synchronlcity': 'meaningful acausal
interconnection.' Also, absolutely unique situations may arise during per­
formances of such works, & the experiences of those participating in
them (whether as performers, audience or both) cannot help but be of
new aesthetic (experiential) meanings. That is, not only do the works
embody & express certain metaphysical, ethical & political meanings,
but Ibey also bring into being new aesthetic meanings."

--· ._.,,.
Books of Poetry