DETACHED

I spent some time this summer

with a shovel and have the remains

of blisters as testament. My tee shirts

are stained with sweat, and two

of my best jeans have premature holes.

From my grandfather back, men

did these things all the time.

Lucy’s tribe huddled skin to skin

by the fire under a mysterious sky.

The horizon was virginal, and

kept us terrified until just now.

We worshiped the ground because  

it taught us the nature of God and death.

We laughed and danced to cave the skull

and peel the skin of our dinner.

We dug the dirt to bury our weak

or plant the seeds of tomorrow’s bread.

But we have lost our

roots, our food has traveled a

thousand miles, and our bread

is white as cancer. God has washed

his hands, so in our hungry multitude

no one matters. I think I know you, but it’s

just your name, and when you are gone,

someone will use a machine to

dig your grave.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Why does it not even matter how we treat our own...We have the hungry and displaced here and ignore them, and yet we go to other countries to bury our dead.
I have several old t-shirts that are stained...work meant something.
And now...detachment and machines...where has the human element gone? maybe the same place as the flowers.
j.

[Vol]

Jacob,
Our entire species has gone demonstratively insane.
Vol
Vol

[Vol]

(Apparently, I have a dual personality, both named "Vol."

[Stella Armour]

It's like selfishness really , the ego is all important these days ..." i am" and "i have" and "i have done"

ears don't listen,
eyes don't see
it's all
"me, me, me"

More widely available horizons are good and bad ... the personal touch is long gone with my generation methinks

[Vol]

Stella,
It is quite strange that I can have something in my pocket with which I can communicate with anyone on the planet, and I can't talk with my next door neighbor. We are walking cocoons.
Vol

[Stella Armour]

sad isn't it ..... we have lost the social skill of communication face to face .Mind you i avoid my next door neighbour like the plague lol

[Chris Shaw]

Change, change and more change and sadly it doesn’t always bring improvement with it. Your poem made me reflect on my early years in the city of London. Where I lived everyone knew everyone. Neighbours were like aunts and uncles. There was always someone ready to help with a problem. A real community spirit. That has gone. Even where I live in the suburbs today, everyone seems detached. Technology makes people more insular and it scares the pants off me the way it’s going. Don’t get me on the subject of food and the thousand of miles it travels. We all used to grow our own. I have joined the old farts club Vol:)

Chris

[Vol]

Chris, Thank you!
To be honest, I think the 1950s was a pretty nice time to be alive, and I'm glad I was there for it. In America It was awful for black folks, and Britain was losing its global hegemony, but people had manners, kids were allowed to have adventures, and there was a general fear of giving offense. People were recognized for their contributions and shamed when they did not. It was the last time people recognized their role in the world as something important. We have turned our backs on God, and everything worth while...
Vol

[Chris Shaw]

I am delighted Vol, I was born in the fifties. I had a very happy childhood and the sixties was an exciting time. I had freedom in childhood, sadly children these days don’t. My school
Motto: manners maketh man. Yes, manners were important. People were kinder and more respectful:(