by Thomas Piekarski
If in the course of human interaction
a man incurs a psychic overreaction
his nerves get frazzled, senses dazed
by what speed with to his surprise
fright surges up and down the spine.
When a nurse walks out on the job
due to incompetence of the doctors
who are putting many lives at risk
it’s fitting she stand up, speak out,
and fight if only for once in her life.
Having surveyed a magic landscape
riding on the bump of a camel over
a frozen arctic and monstrous desert
with wind-blizzards, the clergyman
finds his God lying dead in a ditch.
In order to make any progress on his
private crusade to become extricated
from madness of the electronic age
a warrior would need to first consult
the reflection of his polished shield.
The stress endured when pressured
to meet a sudden, dreaded deadline
gets one’s mind out of sync with
optics processed and spilt as words,
which makes the situation worse.
Trapped in a big bubble of sullenness,
time disguised as some angry demon
is reason enough for the sorry quitter
to resort to watching television shows
that will only further rob him of sanity.
The moral is told on an ancient scroll
never to be found, written by a mystic
who never dreamed of a computer, jets,
nuclear bombs, abortion, nor psychosis
brought on by belief in invalid theories.
***
Thomas Piekarski is a former editor of the California State Poetry Quarterly. His poetry has appeared in such publications as The Journal, Poetry Salzburg, Modern Literature, The Museum of Americana, South African Literary Journal, and Home Planet News. His books of poetry are Ballad of Billy the Kid, Monterey Bay Adventures, Mercurial World, Aurora California, and Opus Borealis.
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