Living in the Immaterial World

This falls into the category of things I had forgotten that I had written. The genre might be called pre-postmodern Luddite rant.

The Singularity

First it ate the wall phone and the wires
then all the clocks and all their ticking.
It sucked in the printing presses and
the logging trucks that kept them fed.
The tape recorder and the answering machine,
the typewriters which are no more. The radio,
movie theaters and TVs, even the remote–
the telegraph and post office have 
both fallen in.

It ate the library and the bookstore,
the living room bookcases, the stereo
and the record store, all nine feet of my vinyl.
The cartographer, the atlas, and the gazette–
all tamped down in. The social clubs, the stadium,
the notebook and the pen, large stuff and small stuff,
all stuffed in.

The camera, the photo album, the wallet and
the little black book. All the computers and monitors,
keyboards, cables and mice. The calculator and
the shopping cart. The weatherman is inside it,
and the anchorman. All the board games, casinos,
puzzles, toys. The fitness center, the coach, the tutor,
the translator. All the stuffing has been removed
from all my stuff, leaving just this hard handful
buzzing in my pocket.

Note: unpublished draft

This entry was posted in Poetry, The Other Village. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Living in the Immaterial World

  1. Resaonates with this old ‘Luddite’.,..thanks

  2. Kathy Goodman says:

    Love this Dale!

  3. Lena says:

    Good piece Dale. Makes me think….

  4. yet I still buy books. I look for old cds. And art books have to be the best in hand as who wants to look at Las Meninas in a 2” square? If one reads on kindle there is that annoying moment when the juice runs out in the middle of a scene. Then that peculiar sensation that maybe your brain is drying up because of the addiction to finding the answer in your pocket. Aw heck, I have to go garden. The world is calling me. Plants don’t talk back.
    Good lesson here. Thank you Dale
    D

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *