Generations of men and women with
Best intentions in their hearts accomplished
Extraordinary evil throughout these lands, but
Spanish moss shags down thick from overhanging,
Hoary live oaks whose gossipy roots
Interdigitate and synapse below the underbelly of
America's gently dreaming mind.
This is the cluttered basement housing
All of our best dreams. This is the wellspring out of which
All embryonic, great notions trace their germinal headwaters.
This is magic's voodoo beauty that can't be denied, that
Can't be conjured into any physical form without the
Breaking of hearts and
Concordant disturbance of our cherished
Genealogical ghosts from their white marble mausoleum temples,
Their ageless voices whispering to us,
Sometimes trumpeting, in
Unintelligible murmurings.
This is the primeval collective unconsciousness of the slumbering
American mind.
20100322
Dreaming America
Copyright © 2010 Ernest Bloom.
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"Genealogical ghosts from their white marble mausoleum temples,
ReplyDeleteTheir ageless voices whispering to us,
Sometimes trumpeting, in
Unintelligible murmurings."
Remarkable imagery. Chilling in a way, which I presume is the intended effect. Though let's not be too harsh! Those voodoo zombies aren't all that bad, not all of them, at least...
I think Jung would protest a little, being crammed into three little stanzas and all. But ah- we do live in the age of speed and miniaturization. Fast-food, fast-reading and fast-living: but fast-thinking is a dangerous shortcut, methinks, that might well lengthen, not shorten, our bumpy journey into the bosom of the Oversoul.
"Live oaks whose roots synapse below the underbelly of America's gently dreaming mind." Fantastic writing! I adore your use of the word "synapse" here; it creates such a vivid image.
ReplyDelete"All of our best dreams." God. The tone of this line is so heart-wrenching. I love it. :)
Ohh, wow.
ReplyDeleteI love the parallelism and maybe it's just because I've been reading loads of Brautigan but some of your word choice really reminds me of him, only without the completely satirical-in-a-laughable-way tone.
trout fishing in america is grateful.
ReplyDelete