CONTEMPT

"For God’s sake let us be men

not monkeys minding machines

or sitting with our tails curled

while the machine amuses us

the radio or film or gramophone.

Monkeys with a bland grin on our faces.”

D. H. Lawrence, “Selected Letters”

What is all this nonsense

of shallow thinking, and

where was it born?

I can see it now, leaking

from a womb of screaming

stupidity, sprawled in the dirt

of some thatched hovel;

a place littered with the

carcasses of Hallmark cards

and government education.

Poetry cackles to itself at the

bullet as it passes through

the brain of your feelings.

Of all man’s quests is there

none more taken than to find

a little blessing in the allure

of a crystal grain of sand, a

tiny yellow flower, or that

look in your come-hither

eye when everything else

fades to mist? I’ve been

asking myself for seventy-plus

years, now, “what the hell

is going on?” Because if I

asked you, I can hear it now,

“You cursed brat, look what

you’ve done! I’m melting,

melting. Ohhhhh, what a world,

what a world. I’m melting,

melting…” into a hollow pile of

clothing fit for a drowned

Phoenician Sailor.

What happened to the idea

of a “Renaissance Man” who

knew something about everything,

who could get lost in a Renoir,

puzzle the difference between

Socrates and Plato, explore new lands,

and still grow a damn fine tomato

in the garden where a good book

can keep him till dark?

The evidence is everywhere,

Western Culture is full of people

who think video games are reality,

who think they know everything,

but know nothing. We ARE

the Hollow Men.

Copyright

Vol Lindsey

04/23/2022

Reviews

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

“Of all man’s quests is there
none more taken than to find
a little blessing in the allure
of a crystal grain of sand”
You ask the question of questions in this well-written and powerful work, Vol… Dare we think, create, dream, ask questions,… or do we quake in fear of the Pretorian Guard, Wicked Witches and pseudo-Wizards vomiting out their trite words behind vinyl curtains? You expertly lead your poem with a rallying D.H. Lawrence entreaty that rings the warning bell for “modern man”. Dare we break out of the banality of imposed one-dimensional mediocrity? Here! Here! Great dramatic inquiry style, metaphor, flow, alliteration, use of repetition, references and most important message. Thank you for this excellent write.

[Vol]

Annette,
My gosh! Thank you! Those damn pseudo wizards making us real ones look bad! What energy in your review! I bet you are fun on the dance floor!
Vol

[AYVID N]

We are truly evolving into a new hollow race of men. Your words are filled with despair and a sense of helplessness. I am determined to hold on to the vestiges of the human left in me. It takes so little to remain alive to the world around us and yet most are lost to it. A powerful poem.

[Vol]

You are right, our shared culture has always held us together, but, in the name of diversity, we have lost everything that made western civilization so intelligent, rich, productive, and free...

[AYVID N]

I agree absolutely. Dilution kills things.