...Gone Mad

Am I mental? 'tis a good question...

A population of experts

grimly eases on rubber gloves;

pawing at the evidence,

poking at personalities

until they crumble

to brittle dust.

 

A legacy owned by the world.

 

No one embraces History any more,

too defeated by revolutionary

passion, before apathy

suppressed and it was

rinsed away in TV soaps.

 

Scandal and celebrity

 

last longer than graffiti,

what with all the whitewashing

Community Service we voted for,

purifying brick walls.

Bandages wrap and entomb.

 

Make your mark in despair,

 

knowing it will be disinfected tomorrow;

more germs on a chopping board

than a toilet lid

powdered in nose candy,

warns the man with bleeding nostrils.

 

Nowhere is safe for the kids to play.

 

Undisputed, infancy equates innocence

relentlessly, stirring primitive fires;

ancient dust swells, refuses to settle

until the threat is butchered

and strung up on school gates.

 

Tear down dangerous leisure

 

and replace; sterilized-oxygen

masks dangling from the

monkey bars. Tomorrow’s unimportant

workers ushered cautiously

down cotton wool corridors

 

into songs of transparent sheep.

 

Author's Note

Let me know what you think of this, e.g. if some of the references seem too obscure. Thanks.

Reviews

[Tiffany Pochatko]

Oh my lol. Everytime I read something like this, I pray one day I can write something as great and meaningful. This was wonderful in many aspects. I can't pick out a favorite line, or even 10 favorite lines. I smiled at parts of this because you bring these problems and situations to attention with such wit and cleverness. Man oh man...this is a good'un. =]]

[Ebby]

Well there is not much left to write- thank you wulfstan ;)
I would like to say that you are one of the few writers I have read whose social concience and worldweary-awareness do create good, well thought and interesting poetry.
I will be reading more
(once I have put my contact lenses in- squinty me)
Kind regards. :)

[Wulfstan Crumble]

There's a thin line between madness and genius between the mental and the surreal. This reads like one person's opinion on the world we have today:

A population of experts - bloggers? Everyone is an expert now.
grimly eases on rubber gloves, -this is a little mad Ted.
pawing at the evidence
poking at personalities - the media's obcession with destroying celebrity.
until they crumble
to brittle dust. - yes, celebrity is brittle. easily destroyed.

A legacy owned by the world. - very true. we feel like we own celebrity.

No one studies History any more, - well i do even though Blair told me it was useless.
too defeated by revolutionary -
passion, before apathy
suppressed, and was
rinsed away in TV soaps. - true..i might have linked it to consumerism rather than soaps.

Scandal and celebrity

last longer than graffiti,
what with all the whitewashing
Community Service we voted for,
purifying brick walls.
Bandages wrap and entomb. - well cleaner communities is nice. But, blairism is seen to have made the ghettos worse.

Make your mark in despair, - ah voting.

knowing it will be disinfected tomorrow;
more germs on a chopping board
than a toilet lid
powdered in nose candy,
warns the man with bleeding nostrils. - bleeding nostrils? from germs to cocaine.

How dare they try to kill our kids? - Ah war, Iraq. Well i think its good that in Britain we dont bribe people into the army by promising them free degrees like in America.

Undisputed, infancy equates innocence - well, we are rolling back innocence with the continual adultification of our youth.

relentlessly, stirring primitive fires;
ancient dust swells, refuses to settle
until the threat is butchered
and strung up on school gates. - is this terrorism? or paedophilia?

Tear down dangerous leisure - in other words all forms of fun.

and replace; sterilized-oxygen
masks dangling from the
monkey bars. Tomorrow�s unimportant
workers ushered cautiously
down cotton wool corridors - to computer rooms. everything must be computers.

into songs of transparent sheep. - this is madness. haha.

We should have a poetry contest about Blair and his legacy. Cool poem full of metaphors and analogies.

[Bubo]

Are you mental??
Boy........I think sometimes to live in this changing modern world we need to be, for every moment things change. New technology, more pressures, rising crime.........all these things bring about how we are living!
What a thought provoking piece.......so many lines, I hear your anger

How dare they try to kill our kids?

Undisputed, infancy equates innocence
relentlessly, stirring primitive fires;
ancient dust swells, refuses to settle
until the threat is butchered
and strung up on school gates.

My fear is for my children...........growing and surviving this mad world.
very deep and meaningful piece.................you are a fab writer.