by Mario Benedetti<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n With its ritual of steel but down here, down With its preachers But down here, down With its French horn But down here, down by Ross Coggins<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Excuse me, friends, I must catch my jet The Development Set is bright and noble In Sheraton Hotels in scattered nations We discuss malnutrition over steaks We bring in consultants whose circumlocution The language of the Development Set It pleasures us to be esoteric — When the talk gets deep and you’re feeling numb, Or say, “That’s fine in practice, but don’t you see: Development set homes are extremely chic, Enough of these verses – on with the mission! The South Also Exists by Mario Benedetti With its ritual of steel its great chimneys its secret scholars its siren song its neon skies its Christmas sales its cult of God the Father and of epaulets with its keys to the kingdom the North is the one who orders but down here, down hunger at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":720,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[640],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/720"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1576,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions\/1576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ethicsofisl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nits great chimneys
\nits secret scholars
\nits siren song
\nits neon skies
\nits Christmas sales
\nits cult of God the Father
\nand of epaulets
\nwith its keys
\nto the kingdom
\nthe North is the one
\nwho orders<\/p>\n
\nhunger at hand
\nresorts to the bitter fruit
\nof what others decide
\nwhile time passes
\nand pass the parades
\nand other things
\nthat the North doesn’t forbid.
\nWith its hard hope
\nthe South also exists.<\/p>\n
\nits poison gases
\nits Chicago school
\nits owners of the Earth
\nwith its luxurious costume
\nand its meager frame
\nits spent defenses
\nits expenses of defense
\nwith its epic of invasion
\nthe North is the one
\nwho orders.<\/p>\n
\neach in their hideaway
\nare men and women
\nwho know what to grasp
\nmaking the most of the sun
\nand eclipses
\nputting useless things aside
\nand using what is useful.
\nWith its veteran faith
\nthe South also exists.<\/p>\n
\nand its Swedish academy
\nits American sauce
\nand its English wrenches
\nwith all its missiles
\nand its encyclopedias
\nits war of galaxies
\nand its rich cruelty
\nwith all its laurels
\nthe North is the one
\nwho orders.<\/p>\n
\nnear the roots
\nis where memory
\nomits no memory
\nand there are those
\nwho defy death for
\nand die for
\nand thus together achieve
\nwhat was impossible
\nthat the whole world
\nwould know
\nthat the South,
\nthat the South also exists<\/p>\nThe Development Set<\/h3>\n
\nI’m off to join the Development Set;
\nMy bags are packed, and I’ve had all my shots
\nI have traveller’s checks and pills for the trots!<\/p>\n
\nOur thoughts are deep and our vision global;
\nAlthough we move with the better classes
\nOur thoughts are always with the masses.<\/p>\n
\nWe damn multi-national corporations;
\ninjustice seems easy to protest
\nIn such seething hotbeds of social rest.<\/p>\n
\nAnd plan hunger talks during coffee breaks.
\nWhether Asian floods or African drought,
\nWe face each issue with open mouth.<\/p>\n
\nRaises difficulties for every solution —
\nThus guaranteeing continued good eating
\nBy showing the need for another meeting.<\/p>\n
\nStretches the English alphabet;
\nWe use swell words like “epigenetic”
\n“Micro”, “macro”, and “logarithmetic”<\/p>\n
\nIt’s so intellectually atmospheric!
\nAnd although establishments may be unmoved,
\nOur vocabularies are much improved.<\/p>\n
\nYou can keep your shame to a minimum:
\nTo show that you, too, are intelligent
\nSmugly ask, “Is it really development?”<\/p>\n
\nIt doesn’t work out in theory!”
\nA few may find this incomprehensible,
\nBut most will admire you as deep and sensible.<\/p>\n
\nFull of carvings, curios, and draped with batik.
\nEye-level photographs subtly assure
\nThat your host is at home with the great and the poor.<\/p>\n
\nOur task is as broad as the human condition!
\nJust pray god the biblical promise is true:
\nThe poor ye shall always have with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"