An ideology that took root
by Steven McCabe
A film about Fascism,
In a garden with shadowy eagles,
Reflecting on the ancient definition of Flowers.
A shadowy figure
Behind a windowbox of plants or flowers,
Reminding me of the mysterious, ornate windows I’d seen
Walking about Rome.
And the Political-noir
Of an ideology that took root,
Thrown in sharp relief by flickering street lamps,
Mussolini’s definition of Fascism,
The Imperial Eagle of Ancient Rome,
& Flowers at a memorial.
My uncle
Convalescing,
When he was young & wounded,
Laughing on the telephone about
A flower pot tossed
From an upper story,
Barely missing.
And concerning the decision I made,
I would have told my son to do the same.
poemimage 
You’ve captured the cinematic ‘noir’ element here Steven….where, as a viewer, I am surrounded by inference and left cautious. Foreboding, and with green at it’s most malevolent …the accompanying art eliminating the possibility of sanguine clues as to where this may be leading. This is pretty spooky Steven. Maybe too well done…LOL
I think the Reader is working now.
Hi Jana, ‘…malevolent green….’ perhaps so…yes, perhaps spooky also. I ‘accidentally’ created a greyish figure/against a wall, and immediately made connections…perhaps brought on my recent events and the ‘shadowy-hand-politic’ I see orchestrating events…
I didn’t point back and forth too clearly between all aspects of the poetry and image as you say. The poem ‘went off…’ but was anchored in the images making it ambiguous. Thank you for these impressions.
p.s. re ‘well done.’ And regarding earlier exchanges perhaps it is now my turn to be ‘well done.’ :- ) <amused emoticon
I’m taken by the fadings and pebbled frames…the Indonesian shadow play evoking ghosts and eagles from my own dreams of Roma…I’m taken with Jana’s “malevolent green” and the grainy fingerprints of history. There are threats of lightnings and sinister geometry….gardens of genocide growing as I scroll…I interpret as I am absorbed into your words and art, fenced by stones and freed by white spaces…
Hi John, Indonesian shadow play…yes it was a shadow creating its own context that got this ball rolling-
I appreciate your thoughts about sinister geometry/ yes, the symbols that pervert the very idea of symbolism, and the ‘pebbles’ as you use it seems an almost playful word. The frame for the puppet show. The frame of culture through which we experience shadows-in one way. A certain way. Not the sinister way. Thank you for your metaphors.
Really quite unnerving marriage of image and text. The far right are on the rise in our country, but haven’t really chosen their symbols yet.
Hi Richard, I’ll take the word ‘unnerving’ as indicative of where it’s aiming. thank you.
Signs, symbols, sinister, beautiful, urgent.
Hello mn. I think you have summed it up succinctly. A five pointed star. Thanks very much.
Thank you everybody for your thoughts. I found this post puzzling and your thoughts have helped to enlarge my understanding. Grazie!
A powerful post, Steven. Lots of unsettling imagery flickering through each frame. And a sharp blade of knife. Or so it seems to me.
Thank you Karen. Yes almost like a dagger in that old Mad Magazine series ‘Spy Vs Spy.’ Or folded paper sharply creased which might be as much of a weapon. It felt unsettling to do it.