Plastic Shaman

[dr_con]

Plastic Shaman

 

Call me a Bokor if you must

Paper cup witchcraft and long

pulls from plastic bottles

amid the wreckage

of history

 

The American Moment

and the promise of living

without fidelity to the machine

or other false idols is long past

the Heretic's lineage threatened

 

Oil induced amnesia

viscous black soporifics

un-taught walking

compressed distance

made it all immediate

the cafeteria of knowledge

infinite conveyor belts

slip quietly past

we can have whatever

we want

 

but our senses are dull

blind we grab whatever shines brightest

cutting a hole in the dark

Forms Arise

and fall without understanding

or clear ideas of the cost

 

We've been here before

this pit this home

familiar in its spaciousness

desert stars at night

or dying at the jungles edge

one mistake away from getting-it

 

just-so again and again

repeat until you have learned

this lesson and then the next

between all these choices

why choose this or that

rather it may be

time to take

sides.

[tonyv]

Another poem that reads like a final warning, Dr. Con. Except, this time the warning is directed at a culture within a culture. No subculture is exempt from the risk of extinction, or at least from becoming watered down, especially when it's immersed in the Grand Culture of Materialism. But, a warning suggests that it's not too late. The "Plastic Shaman" recognizes that the lines are drawn in the sand and counsels that the time to "take sides" may be near ... lest a way of life fade into oblivion.

 

Tony

[Lake]

I feel it delivers criticism, instruction and a sense of urgency. I maybe off the mark. :icon_redface:

 

With respect,

 

Lake

[goldenlangur]

Hi DC,

 

What a dramatic opening with allusion to the Haitian Voodoo cult - Bokor! The contrast of this with the rest of the poem brings out a sense of increasing disillusionment:

 

viscous black soporifics

un-taught walking

compressed distance

made it all immediate

the cafeteria of knowledge

 

 

Disquieting and thought-provoking.

 

 

Thank you.

[Aleksandra]

Dr.Con. I like how this poem goes and how is written. Very urban poem and I agree with all what Tony wrote.

I love this expression:

 

desert stars at night

or dying at the jungles edge

 

Glad to come to this poem. Thank you for sharing.

 

Aleksandra