Horst Dannert Watches the Revolution, Televised

Poem - By Darren Donate

Horst Dannert Watches the Revolution, Televised

After Gil Scott-Heron

I recall what was once said about my early work,

how—when used properly, can be a beautiful sight—

like water curling over a land bridge

or a thin mist between islets,

but now the streets are knives, glinting against

a galvanized moon & the emergency lights wrap their colors

on each bruised knuckle. I sip slow from the tumbler, pause

for the blaze of clear spirit to wane from my throat,

& track the little figures on screen, the black vests and red caps

that unspool—five paces apart—a full-scale effort:

a collaboration, a coup. Broadcasted live,

the world is a rifle that I brace for

as the crowds surge together like a school of fish

toward the hunting grounds, opening their little mouths.

Swallow the tear gas, they chant. The feed freezes on a single frame—

bodies groping toward wire. I know they will not be contained.

Program Note

Razor wire, or barbed wire, comes in various types. One type is concertina or Dannert wire, which is formed in large coils that can be expanded like a concertina - invented during World War I by Horst Dannert.

Snippets of music by Gil Scott Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 Superbowl performance referencing the Gil Scott Heron song, and Ted Hearne’s Beats have been processed and transformed, forming musical objects which interact with the text and other musical objects or layers in this work.