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Antonin Artaud Theater of Cruelty Or Joie De Vivre Part 3

He was sitting alone in the corner 
In a little cafe at the painting of Monet
And was talking to imaginary friend
About thinness opaqueness fear
Sensation of heat cold anger despair
Cruelty he claimed is the language of reality
Not the barren lame poetry with vulgar
Metaphors hiding behind empty words
Cruelty was the only honest way
To open the hidden heavy doors 
Into suffering human soul and heart
And talk about things that matter
Through shamanic art of reaching
Deep into the guts of true teaching
And bringing light to the dark corners
That have never been lit before
Actors dancing in overpowering way
Manikins with terrifying theatrical faces
With empty eyes staring at the audience
And drilling through their souls
Objects of strange proportions 
Surfacing in a dreamy scenery
Of unrecognizable ghostly world
Of the modern stage transformed 
By the means of the theater of cruelty 
It is the only way to be honest
To himself Artaud claimed 
And believed 
He was right
He sacrificed his life
To this idea
And died lonely forgotten
On the bare floor
Next to metal bed
That stood at the door
He tried to open so hard
In a madhouse
Where magic of theater
Truly belongs

Copyright © | Year Posted 2016




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Date: 3/26/2016 12:37:00 PM
Brilliant concept for a poem, Ruta. I truly do appreciate what you have tried to demonstrate here regarding your poem. I believe that the great poet Ezra Pound would have approved of this work of yours; he too believed that poetry should reflect the cruelty and stark reality of the real world. A great write! And thank you for bringing Antonin Artaud to my attention; I shall now acquaint myself with the man and his work. All my best regards to you, Ruta! :) john A seven of course.
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