The Winner Is: Word or Image?

 

This is my late friend, the Danish poet Marianne Larsen (1951-2025), who sadly enough died in December 2025 without me getting to know anything about it until a couple of months later. A very strange, shocking and altogether unpleasant experience. Actually it was so awful, that it triggered some memories, which I more or less had forgotten. These memories were about one of our discussions about WORDS CONTRA PICTURES in communications of various art. She was convinced that the word still had the upper-hand over the picture as to communication, but I wasn't all that sure because it can't be denied that the world has changed its priorities, and that one of these is "easiness/spiritual laziness" is the most peasant to most people and thus the best . 

 

The mere image of a MAGA-cap speaks volumes of certain characteristics of the man wearing it like e.g. prejudice, stupidity, science-immunity, misogyny, arrogance and so on and on. The cap does this, all by itself, because it is nourished by non-MAGAs's political standpoints of the opposite kind. Also, as it is, people who are not MAGAs need many more words to explain what their opinions are than the man in the cap. In that respect the image, e.g. of a gesture or a symbol, has the upper-hand over the words: In the flash of a moment one is able to get the image "translated" into the full meaning of it. For instance, all of us know what it means to raise one's right hand in a straight line, looking sinister - or stupid? - and the ones who do just that don't even have to say "heil Hitler" to get the message through: They are not into Democracy, on the contrary, and it was made clear without any words to explain it.

 

That goes with flags too: Each one speaks without words, and they have a strong message for everyone who knows them and recognizes the ones that belongs to his/her native country and biography.  

This is one of the many poems by Marianne, and as is obvious it speaks in its own voice. Her command of language and imagery was impressive and something that was recognized from the very beginning of her career. However, our discussions were about COMMUNICATION as such, and that's where it - like all or most poems - may not cover her intentions. Compared to the MAGA-hat or the fully stretched right arm a poem simply doesn't come out clear with its message. The reason for that is that it covers many more symbolic layers than a hat or an arm, both of which is much more simple symbols. However, it wasn't only my discussions with Marianne that made me brood the question of what was the strongest form of communication, but also some experiences I had with some of my own books, like e.g. this one:

 

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I've had some offers from people I don't know, but who introduce themselves as publishers or film makers. Most of them are nothing but conmen, out to earn a substantial sum by cheating an author out of money to have his/her book turned into a  movie. At first it feels quite flattering, but it's anything but flattery as they wouldn't try their luck if they took you for a genius. On the contrary, they feel that an Indie author is hungry for attention and thus ready to pay to get it. As I've pubished books both as an "Indie" and with ordinary publishers I'm glad to say that I'm not a push-over for this kid of flattery. That being said, I did fall for this specific attempt to bleed me because it was very  well prepared: The one, who wrote me, "borrowed" the name, the address, etc. of a well-known Hollywood-producer, but with the help of someone who keeps an eye on all the scummy ongoings in the literary world, I found out that the man who wrote me in reality was a Philipine conman, who had targeted several authors whom he tried to bleed.

 

What I find the most interesting part of that incident is that people I know were so very interested in the possibility of the book being turned into a movie. None of them ever asked me about how the book was doing or what it was about, but they kept asking questions like "will it be on Netflix?" Or"Who is to play X?" It was very obvious that they had no intentions of reading the book, but that they would cosider watching a movie over it - This experience is why I told my friend, Marianne, the word-loving poet, that words had lost to the images and pictures ....

 

 

https://boobytrapec.blogspot.com/2026/09/words-contra-pictures-what-couple.html

https://boobytrapec.blogspot.com/2026/09/redacted-poem-by-else-cederborg-cain.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

Poem by Else Cederborg: "Non-Normal Dancing"

 Dancing in and out of nothingness

tip-toeing like on red hot tiles

calling it normal 

which it's not ....

 

All Rights Reserved © Else Cederborg

 

When The Exploited And Abused One Is A Human Being

 

This looks like blatant exploitation, and if there is no compensation in form of extra food, money or whatever is needed in a prison, it's even double-exploitation as these men are being treated like soulless robots. They may have committed heinous crimes to land in prison, but according to our morally based judicial system, they are supposed to be able to pay off their guilt by losing their freedom, not by being exploited as workers.

 

Female child coal miner in UK 

Awful work conditions have been the fate of many men and women in the past, and we know they at the same time have been exploited in other ways, which robs them of their humanity. Sexual abuse may be part of the exploitation without being reported. Loads of everyday cruelties in work conditions may have gone unnoticed and thus unrecognized as what they are. They should have been kept in historical documents, kept for younger generations to see and learn from, but weren't. 

This incident was such a shock to me to read about that I lost every respect for Amazon, I've ever had. As it is, some of my books with Author House and a couple of my minor translations are still on Amazon, but they were put there by the publishers, not by me, the author or translator, and there isn't really anything I can do about it. That said, I suppose I might delete my profile, but I've chosen not to do so, as I want to keep an eye on what's going on at the platform. However, I decided not to publish new books with Amazon, although I've some ready for publishing because of the incident with the worker dying on the floor.  By this callous treatment of a worker, Amazon sort of robbed him of his human qualities, but the obvious point is that he was a HUMAN who deserved more than this.

Amazon has been targeted as an awful working place even before this incident, and the fact that nothing seems to happen to better conditions is a WARNING SIGNAL that should not go unnoticed. I bet many other working places are doing what Amazon does, and it reminds me of the fable of the frog on the stove: Sitting in a bowl of water it feels quite comfortable, and it dosn't even move when then water is getting warmer. Unfortunately for the frog, it stays put, until the water is boiling, and then it's too late to jump out into safety ....

https://novaramedia.com/2026/04/16/amazon-employees-made-to-load-trucks-around-dying-colleague/ 

 

Wikipedia

Infested By Humans

 

If this "baby" really was to become the last one, then the main problem wouldn't have been his somewhat weird looks, but his male gender: After all, men still can't give birth, so this last baby would have been the end of it all = NO MORE HUMANS. What's needed is a baby girl and some semen on ice. However, if there were none of either it would not have been bad news to the planet ....

If some modern "Space-romantics" had their way, humans should take possession of other, hitherto people-free planets. Actually, they want them/us to spread all over Space which would be very bad news for a lot of planets.

Exploitations of the resources and not thinking of keeping the balance of Nature is what humans have brought everywhere they come on this planet. Some know that that's the case, but don't really care, as they don't see the problems as something that concerns them. They sort of "send the bill off to future generations" which is a very shallow and egomaniac way of thinking. 

A lot of animals, plants and Nature sceneries on planet Earth would rejoice at the information, that the very last human child was a boy, but baby-romantics of today get shocked at the very thought. However, these days men are not as needed as they themselves think, and many women chose not to let the father of the child they do want to have into their private lives. In some ways men of today are paying the bills of the subjection of women of former generations and foreign cultures ....

https://www.reddit.com/r/freedomgold/s/yqbOBkZjyf 

 

Redacted Poem By Else Cederborg: "Cain And Abel In The Air"

 

 

 

 

Cain And Abel In The Air 

 

I saw a big bird today, white as innocence

No wait, I saw a picture of a big white bird today

and actually, there were not one, but two birds

One very big and ferocious, out for a kill

the other smaller and a victim for a murderer in feathers

Yeah, and both were in the air, flapping their wings

The one was being eaten alive by the other one

a beak deep inside its back, but none the less alive

what struck me was their twin quality, Cain and Abel

the killer was a seagull and so was its victim

forever the big Cain killing his smaller brother Abel

By the way, do seagulls eat seagulls?

Well, do humans obliterate humans, turn them into nothing?

And didn't I avert my eyes from this unbearable cruelty

because it wasn't real, only a picture of something, real or not?

Yes, it's tempting to stick with the pictures and throw out

what's only all too real in a world of cruel realities?

 

All-Rights-Reserved © Else Cederborg

 

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And yes, this is part of my ongoing, recent broodings about the relationship of words and pictures that started with reading this statement: "A picture may say more than 1000 words ...."

Words And Pictures - What A Couple!

As we know, when one wants to communicate something, one may chose different ways of doing so. For a very long time "The Word" itself was what brought insight. It's a recognized, strong tool, and according to The Bible (Genesis I) it was the tool of "God" himself: Yahweh spoke, and Woopsy, the Universe came into existence, actually out of nothing.  So this transformation was brought about by a command in words. However, what ended up in the written words we know today must have started out in spoken words, e.g. by priests or so. And, of course, before these spoken words became written, they have changed and changed as well as been elaborated on through many centuries. Nothing wrong or strange in that, because that's how fables and fairy-tales worked in the early times of the human history.

  Yahweh on a winged chariot 

However, later on the strong tool of Yahweh, the word, was reused by not always all that godly humans, both for ordinary communications, but also for inventing their own "universes" in form of stories. Still, the word stayed strong and magical. As it is, it didn't get challenged until humans started to use more pictures for communicating reflections and ideologies. Religious pictures, like for instance the one of Yahweh on his winged chariot, developed into much more intricate formations, as did the word. 

Such a picture, as e.g. this one from "The Middle Ages", tells an intricate story with several layers of understanding. Actually there are so many that we in our time period may not get to understand all of them, as neither words nor images may age well. To mediate everything in this picture would be difficult for the word to do on its own - strong or not. And what's more, the word works with making pictures, so why not elude any intricazies by aiming directly at the picture that one's words were to mediate? I would say, that that's only possible when the message is simple or a good representation of a very well-known phenomenon. In that case it's more like an illustration than anything else. 

(Artist: Jens Galshiøt) 

This crucified, pregnant woman gets its most potent symbol from the cross which alludes to the crucifiction of Jesus, but if we didn't know that story, it would be a strange piece of art indeed. There would be many different interpretations, and none of them would cover all of the implications of this specific artwork. The need for words would be felt very strongly by those who really, really wanted to know what this was about. Others, who saw it, might end up in 1) Disgust at the cruelty or 2) Disgust at the nakedness of this poor murdered woman, and both of that kind of disgusts would only be part of the message of this specific piece of art. 

tRump And Some Non-Loving Cartoons

OK, I admit it, I just love cartoons like this one: Evil, but in a somewhat subtle manner. As much as I despise The Orange Conman, I prefer the subtle when it comes to him. Instead of Hell, Satan, eternal fires  and brimstones, a kind of fiasco of one of his ridiculous projects is more fitting. Not because I've turned soft on him, but because I think that shall hit harder. Bad EC? Maybe, but that's OK with me because I feel that whatever not-so-pleasant that may happen to him is well-deserved. His idea of renaming a Canadian lake into "Lake America" looks like a joke, but that may not even be the case as he over and over has proved to be totally without any feelings for the appropriate when it comes to the belongings of other countries. 

I'm sure many both in and out of America have dreamt of seeing something like this Ai-drawing turning real. Not that I can blame them as my wishes for getting him to stand trial for crimes that should have sent him behind bars many years ago, may be even more cruel. After standing trial, he should get jailed, but also being sent on a hot date with Old Sparky - a very hot date, that is .... 

When I see cartoons like this one, I find it difficult to un-see, so to speak, because that seems to be his attitude to everything and everyone who need help - or just an act of justice that is unpleasant for him. It's touching that some of his deluded voters, who have lost a lot, e.g. by his cloaked extra-taxes, (also called tariffs), write him, asking for help, but it's sad that they expect to get it.

The "Growth", such as it is, is for the 1% who are rich beyond belief, and there it stands. If there is a "TrickleDown" it hasn't been felt yet, and it's the same with those enormous number of new jobs that the voters were promised. Most of the vanity projects may be laughable, like for instance the totally undeserved "Arch of Triumph", that is being built for tax-payer-money. What covers that idea is best described by Hans Christian Andersen in his fairy-tale about the vain emperor who buys new clothes, but ends up naked.