The Birth of ABRASION

          During the creative phase of my book I realized a new style of poetry must be conceived in order to fully communicate my message.  So, I proudly present to you the birth of Abrasive Poetry!  What the hell is this you wonder?  It’s a no fear poetry, a dangerous poetry, a poetry that gets under the skin and ferments like a fine wine.  Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus defines the word Abrasive as, “causing abrasion, aggressively annoying...irritating…a substance, as sandpaper, used for grinding, polishing, etc.”.            

          Abrasive Poetry owes its central concept to Antonin Artaud’s Theater of Cruelty as portrayed in his book, The Theater and Its Double.  Like my invention, his theories encompass a grotesque deformation of beauty in order to provoke a response from the audience.  The goal is to confront the despair and loneliness of the Great Big Nothing with complete and utter Abrasion.  The occasion for Abrasion is conclusively now!  To use a musical example, it’s like throwing Eminem, Marilyn Manson and Rage Against the Machine into a cognitive blender and splattering the mixture upon a dramatic tapestry as woven by me.            

           I intend to fill the gap between the classic myths and Generation Now. And in taking on this responsibility, must I perpetually reject social conventions to achieve an individual vision like Friedrich Nietzche, Tristan Tzara, or even Anton Szandor Lavey?  William Blake had something to say about this as he wrote, “I had to create my own system of thought in order to avoid being enslaved by others.”  And so, enjoy my new system of thought, enjoy my Abrasive Manifestos!

~RICK TRAGIC