Chemical Imbalance was "In the Know"

[dr_con]

Chemical Imbalance

 

Americans act like fanatics

assonance abounds, counterpointing

 

all this talk of God,

"Are you for or against an old man"

 

by the sea he sells

sea shells, from an Exxon Mobile

 

cart, don't ask,

he will not tell who these shells

 

originally belonged,

only what they share, the point

 

of advertising to down-

play the common, and emphasize

 

the elite. Consonance

in this case is the bass, of pills popped

 

in defense of monetary

freedom under monotheism, to have

 

is divine, to have not

an incongruity with your savior

 

a simple imbalance

corrected by buying a bigger burning

 

bush, alliteration

the only necessary prescription

 

for stuttering

through hymns of celebration

 

or seeing dissonance

in the enjambment of cultural norms.

 

[tonyv]

There are profound implications in the words knowledge and know. When I first read the title, I didn't make the associations. Reading the poem is like waking up from

believing that our fairy-tales

of job, family, culture and self worth

 

are as real as daylight or nightlife,

like "coming to know" that everything is not what it's cracked up to be.

 

I like how you add a touch of the personal:

When I first moved

to California ...

I also like the form.

 

Tony

[goldenlangur]

Hello DC,

 

Tony is right. There's a sense of moving from what is the given knowledge to that which the poet arrives on his own. The hiatus between the two, reminds one of Foucault's premise that knowledge is premised on layers of interpretation. Akin to the layers of the city's history and architecture, awareness and knowledge for the poet moves through the strata.

 

Perhaps wrongly one senses a disenchantment in the symbols of material advancement and prosperity in the poet's search for the meaning of life in the city and civilization he is part of.

 

 

 

Gives one much to think.

 

 

 

goldenlangur

[Aleksandra]

Wonderful meaningful poem. The point of the poem is very powerful and provokes. I love how the poem is starting and then goes in some very complicated part, what makes the poem stronger and much deeper.

 

Thanks for sharing dr.con

 

Aleksandra

[dr_con]

Those of you who read PC, will see that it has been removed with an explanation- It is being replaced by a far more amusing poem, a bit of a lark;-) Thanks for the wonderful comments, but as I said on PC- This was a 'Sweeping poem' not meant for public consumption, rather a form of self cleaning, normally this would have not been made public, but I was a little off in my posting judgment that early morn;-)

 

DC

[JoelJosol]

Your first line is a strong assertion that was asking for an equally strong reaction, DC.

[dr_con]

Thanks JJ for dropping in;-)

 

DC

[tonyv]

Modern materialism and old-school theism paint a peculiarly American visage in this replacement poem. One would expect the two worlds to collide more violently, yet they seem to complement one another. The result is some sort of perverse, collage-like harmony.

 

Tony

[douglas]

hi dr con!

 

i found this 'replacement' poem very interesting indeed. i enjoyed the subjects thought about in it; materialism, belief-systems, contemporary greed, politics and humanity. it encapsulates that sense or collection of emotions one sometimes feels after being in a city for too long being bombarded by too many thoughts, messages and impressions.

 

oh for a quiet day in the profound silences of the mountains!

 

enjoyed - thank you!