The City Came Before the Freeway

. some progress is purely superficial .

before the freeway the city was still here

naked in the darkness she existed for years

vibrant in sunlight

huddled under starlight. . .

        clustered together

        enhancing survival

way back when; during an age of pure reason

way before the fashion's came

it was the "tits" to be "mainstream"

in the way back in when

when it was very hard to survive

    - alone and exposed -

. . .  there was that purpose beforehand

dressed for the darkness

once all light was equal

  -  and now we are this

fashioned and partitioned

into Lost Copies

with no Originals

without context

judging survival as commuters

oblivious to all origins

  

          the caveman was no dumber

     (though he would be confused)

 

Author's Note

Reviews

[Spookers]

This was great. I enjoyed the word play and the message behind it. The subject of this stuff comes to my mind quite often actually. The thought that everyone wants to be an individual or unique, but these days, everyone is just playing off someone else. There aren't really any original ideas anymore. I enjoyed this, and made me think about it a little more. Thank you.

[Davidgeo]

I'm glad you enjoyed. Unfortunately for me poems about nothing being original are not at all original and always playing off of someone else. But in reality I think every single thing that happens is at least a little bit different than the last time... the change is so small sometimes it may take generations to notice. Kinda like the evolution of life... which is all about making copies from long dead originals.

[Nipplegrinder]

This writing is the tits! Go Eagles.

[Davidgeo]

Thanks. No Eagles. Tom Brady. That is all.

[Madeleine Celeste]

This is such an interesting comparison between now and then, and you did a spectacular job in weaving the two together to create something so beautifully different. A brilliant idea that is so well executed.

[Victor Ley]

the line "and now we are this" caught me the first time i read through this. other phrases jump out the more i read: "in the way back in when"; "once all light was equal"; "during an age of pure reason". i keep reading this over and over. i keep thinking about how epistemology shifts as time goes by--how we know things, what we deem to be reasonable and why.... thanks for sharing this! i just want to keep reading it over and over again!

[Davidgeo]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed.

If you looking for more on the whole "becoming a copy without an original" concept you should check out a French philosopher/sociologist named Jean Baudrillard.

[R.E. Ray]

TK, I might be digging deeper than intended. There's much here to unpack. Of course, both the city and the freeway were man's inventions, some will argue for survival. Still, your point isn't lost, at least how I interpret it. The freeway and our connectivity have made us mere copies of each other. No original shining cities, original people, or original thought left... or little of it. It's a drive to conformity (pun intended), and we're driving as fast as we can. Another thought-provoking write. (Please excuse the long-winded, twisted review. The product of little sleep).

[Davidgeo]

Thanks for taking the time Robert. It's not really about cities and freeways of course... the concept of grouping together in more than just familial unit's is probably what allowed us to overcome much larger, faster and stronger animals while allowing for a specialization of labor. That, I think is an invention in response to surviving a harsh environment . . . but the freeway concept, the idea of constantly interacting with others in a real or digital marketplace is in response to something else. Probably boredom. Eventually, we will forget entirely why we evolved the traits that we posses in the way we did. The copies will then truly become the originals... you could probably say that already happened a long time ago. This poem is kind of flawed, I shouldn't write when I'm drunk.

[G.W. Saitreux]

A pleasant read that left me longing to return to nature and truly liberate myself from the infrastructure of the current freeways. Interesting flow with impeccable word choice, overall I quite enjoyed this read.

[Davidgeo]

Thanks GW. I'm glad you liked my word choice.