NOTE: To watch me read The Folly of More: CLICK HERE
these icons
of the clever human
they once vibrated
with the rush and chaos
of synapse and sinew
they hummmed
with networked urgency
a torrent of data
outdistancing comprehension
‘we can’
beyond the reach
of ‘should we’
multitudes chanting
more more more
a time too blind
to see its faulted fate
a time to turn back
sadly came too late
bedecked in stainless
stone
and arrogance
a halogen blaze
of neon fire
burnt logic
they surged
with the impulse of power
and greed
in varying shape
and differing size
they flanked for miles
in gridded corridors
that crissed and crossed
blinked and beeped
buzzed and hissed
they stank!
temples of avarice
now but this lone
crumbling monolith
this final tribute
to human folly
rob kistner © 2020
NOTE: To read more about folly: CLICK HERE
There is always more… love how you describe it in terms of data and architecture combined… so much more we are adding each second.
We are moving faster and amassing more than the human psych can contain. No wonder the world is a stressed mess.
As long as there are humans there will be the folly of more, greed and self-aggrandisement. We have a prime example in the current POTUS. I love ‘they hummed / with networked urgency’ and the use of onomatopoeia in the lines:
‘they flanked for miles
in gridded corridors
that crissed and crossed
blinked and beeped
buzzed and hissed’.
I really don’t like to dwell on the apocalyptic nature of our current situation, but man, it is hard to ignore. If we, as US citizens vote the beast back into office — I think I might lose complete faith in human beings. It’s fractured right now, but I continue to cling.
Rob, a flash of that monolith from “2001: A Space Odyssey” came to mind, both because of the feeling of things coming full circle, yet at the same time a feeling of being frozen in place. We are still naked apes grunting at the monolith — that has been fitted with a world-destroying device. I can’t see what the timer on it says, but there is a folly of hope left within me.
If anything distills your momentous poem for me, it is:
‘we can’
beyond the reach
of ‘should we’
Thank you for being inspired to complete and share your poem today.
Thank you Lisa… 🙂 …that line you commented on is a paraphrase of a statement, written by Michael Crichton, is his first Jurassic Park book. It was part of a dialog spoken by Ian Malcolm… The question of just because we can — should we?
Adding prophet to your many talents, I see. This piece is tight as a tummy-tuck. streaming down a hyper-speed median, unafraid to go there, to look and lament before returning to warn and cajole; very impressive.
Thanks Glenn, but I can’t don the mantle of prophet. I believe I see what any sane logical human being can see. Perhaps my difficulty in seeing a “turn-back” point makes me less a prophet, and more a “woke” cynic.
…data / outdistancing comprehension…” Yep; Folly’s most likely precursor.
As always, RK, this is one awesome write.
Thank you Ron. The human herd is simply traveling too fast to keep up with itself. Our capabilities to create are running further and further ahead of our ability assimilate…
I got a flash of Simon and Garfunkel’s song The Sound Of Silence from you piece when i read
“A halogen blaze
of neon fire
burnt logic”
thank you for adding another layer to that memory
You put me in some great company Rog. Even if it’s but for a moment — thank you!
I like this very much. Makes me think of the tower of Babel. We haven’t changed at all. More, more, more!
Thank you Mary! We already have “towering babble” in the White House.
temples of avarice
now but this lone
crumbling monolith
Built for a reason not really understood now in ruins. Could be prompted by the King or someone powerful. Great wordcraft Rob!
Hank
Thank you Hank! Actually, in my minds eye, I can envision this as the ruins of the modern world when our tech runs amuck, our AI reaches singularity, and we lose control morally and mentally.
Such a skilful description of the Vanity of Human Wishes:
that crissed and crossed
blinked and beeped
buzzed and hissed
they stank!
I love this stanza especially. So much of our ‘progress’ really stinks, it’s destroying both the natural world and our humanity. Well said, Rob.
It is with sadness I say thank you Ingrid, because you are so correct.
I see this as a fine testimony to human green and folly, in all its myriad forms. Well done.
Sadly we humans conduct our lives believing we actually have dominion over nature — when what we should be doing is desperately learning how to live in balance with nature. Again to quote Crichton from his Jurassic Park novels – “life (nature) always finds a way”. I believe life is finding a way to pull humankind back into balance via the natural disasters and diseases — such as the current weather distortions and the Covid-19 pandemic. We as humans “gotta learn” someday, or our someday’s are going to expire.
The ultimate folly. What used to be called progress has become a treadmill of greed and fatuous over-consumption with no regard whatsoever for the poor who are being mutilated and humiliated by it, or the planet that is being mutilated and destroyed to supply our excess. Good poem, Rob.
Absolutely Jane. I won’t rewrite here, but I will point you to what I said to Kerfe in this comment string.
‘we can’
beyond the reach
of ‘should we’
That says it all–well and truly penned Rob.
Human knowledge far exceeds human comprehension — that imbalance is precisely why this world is in such a precarious state. Humans are damned clever, just not so smart as we think — and way too greedy for our own good Kerfe.
wow oh wow, you nailed our greed and folly which has put us in a dark and dangerous place … but I chose to step out and others do too. If we raise our voices as you’ve done here we are calling ‘time to stop’.
Whether anyone can hear us is irrelevant but we don’t need to participate in the manic destruction ….
Thank you Kate, and like the old fart I am… I say to you — right on!!