Rinderpest
The world getting warmer day by day,
Ever-metastasizing systems of networks, connected,
Routing data coded as binary number sets,
Result is the purpose; convenience reigns.
We lost purpose; you can find lost friends
In the blink of an eye, the flip of a switch.
Blip moments flash, return, then fade,
Undead, reels of yesterday’s greener
Grass glowing, glowing, while disconnection grows.
1913, after-hours, bedtime, felt in your core,
Heart wandering to the person you were before,
When she was yours, fleeting, held in your
Hands; last note, dated 1906, slipping, sand in
An hourglass, time so cruel, frozen events, precious.
Nothing left to lose, listless lover, loiterer,
Can’t let go, never knowing
If she feels the same stain, the stinging pain,
Missing, yet you never left your home.
It was the longest winter on record,
Snow densely packed on by blizzard,
Whale oil lamp glistens; can’t see the sun.
Distance between you and that cold body,
Stiff, lost to the cold, cold world.
Beef stew harboring rinderpest, tasteless,
Frigid grief, father’s face colorless,
Your best friend, your only friend, lost.
No stage to express the waiting period,
Have to sit for the thaw to bury him.
Gin and tonic on breath, eyes dim
Like headlights, driver soaked behind the wheel of a '69 Corvair.
Just a ride to clear the head, sobering,
Thirst quenched, mind running, car humming.
Lips still wet, riding the line
Between reminiscing and remembering,
The fantasy, the familiar, the recall,
Ghosts calling, faces in clouds,
Parts on a conveyor belt of smiles,
Brief acknowledgments, he knows,
He knows him, he knows it.
Always in contact, we never talk.
There’s a lot to read in the time,
The space between messages, instant
Recognition, ranking their investment,
Judging the portfolio, the returns
Mitigated, the risks calculated and split.
The sum is much smaller than the greatest.
Some lose, have dreams amputated, but
Still, there are screens to interact with, a
Whole world of emancipated fears, the coolest connections.
Animals, beasts, dangerous creatures,
Never suited for comfort, we get too close,
We burn, we scar, we move on, repeat,
Cyclical, like gears turning in place.
Heartbreak tastes acidic, corrosive,
Laced with dopamine, serotonin,
Survival responses triggered,
Lingering, avoiding confrontation
With anything that remembers, holds memories,
We are not our ancestors,
But a new species, born from the atrophy.