dr_con Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 (edited) Wood Chipper North Berkeley’s quiet feral suburban birdsong shattered by the half wild metal beast attended by safely dressed men on this privileged street Between sanguine Beech Pine Oak and others I watch dead leaves crunching beneath my feet A Tree once stately made inconvenient is eaten A soup of proud branches then a meal of trunk followed by a tuberous dessert of naked roots A glutted time machine makes duff in minutes Everyone I know has the nuclear flu- We taste it feel it in joints smelling radiation in the rain water The inverse of this chipper slow silent and serious DNA disrupted inspiring bizarre mutations unique forms cutting life short reducing biology to physics Not machine teeth engaged in crunching foliage I heard of a man volunteering to march to ground zero in some American desert to see first hand what gods may do He’s asked why he is still alive after long years At 83 having seen friends pass from atomic pathology He says It was the time of his life a young fallen farm boy getting a chance to glimpse the afterbirth of the first womb My woody mossy companions are budding in pink green and definitely nut standing stoic and certain just watching our shared origin not then or when but with certainty now. Edited April 21, 2011 by dr_con Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 The inexorable march of technology is frightening; a 'double edged sword' Reminds me of a line by Reginald Arkell "I too was progress-- yesterday." although he spoke of canals. Benjamin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyv Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Juris, you take on something that's on a lot of people's minds in the wake of the recent natural disaster. And the wood chipper is a fantastic vehicle: even chipping it all up will not help. Terrific write! Tony Quote Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_con Posted April 24, 2011 Author Share Posted April 24, 2011 Tony, Benjamin! Appreciate the feedback and compliments as always! Many Thanks, DC&J Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Hi DC, I saw the title and immediately thought of the movie Fargo. The wood chipper is a common tool up our way, it helps eliminate unwanted brush from downed trees but it makes an unGodly sound. I felt sad reading your poem. Even the structure of the poem contributed to the feeling of a cold, mechanical detruction of nature. Well done! ~~Tink Quote ~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~ For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dedalus Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 WOW! I love the stream of consciousness, the fading sense of place, as if we don't need to be in Berkeley to understand these things are happening all around. Unfortunately, I remember a cheap movie where a guy got fed into one of these things and only his feet and socks were sticking out, a rather grisly way to go, but you never know what's going to happen to you .... Quote Drown your sorrows in drink, by all means, but the real sorrows can swim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosschandler Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 i really enjoyed how you played with words and created so many wondeful images. metaphors, analogies, etc. that go the extra mile in depicting your thoughts. i like nuclear flu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoelJosol Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 DC, I decided to check out what a wood chipper using Google showing pictures of it in action. That helped a lot for me to understand your poem. Your poem is actually made up of two images - the chipper and the nuclear flu and their contrasting process of destruction. The second image came in like a jolt, jumping into the poem without warning before returning to the original image. Other than that, it was a pleasant journey. Quote "Words are not things, and yet they are not non-things either." - Ann Lauterbach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_con Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 Thanks All- Tink,Ded- ahh yes those images were in my mind too, cheap horror movies and yet that's where we all get inspiration sometime: In our own brand of mourning and solidarity we rented "The Suicide Club" a peculiar Japanese blood soaked movie- which I recommend if you can stand over the top blood- But not for that- It's a very Zen movie- Just Odd...;-) JJ-Ross- Glad you enjoyed the ride! Many many Thanks! DC&J Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank E Gibbard Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 (edited) A big favourite is this one from your ouevre, like it muchly for its flow and imagery, enjoyed it DC, really did. Could say I found it chipper in fact (our old slang) despite the bleak message, the whole is uplifting especially the local birdsong bit for me. Didn't get this though: <<My woody mossy companions are budding in pink green and definitely nut standing stoic and certain just watching our shared origin not then or when but with certainty now.>> ? a typo Should nut be not? It's late - probaby not. Frank Edited April 30, 2011 by Frank E Gibbard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_con Posted April 30, 2011 Author Share Posted April 30, 2011 A big favourite is this one from your ouevre, like it muchly for its flow and imagery, enjoyed it DC, really did. Could say I found it chipper in fact (our old slang) despite the bleak message, the whole is uplifting especially the local birdsong bit for me.Didn't get this though: <<My woody mossy companions are budding in pink green and definitely nut standing stoic and certain just watching our shared origin not then or when but with certainty now.>> ? a typo Should nut be not? It's late - probaby not. Frank Not not, but rather nut which is fruit of the aforementioned blossom and a color in itself, although it is a bit nutty to not use knot when describing a tree of age, but I understand your confusion, as is obvious from this poem Like Prince Charles, I my self are a bit of a nutter talking to trees about radiation and wood chippers! ;-) Thanks Frank! DC&J Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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