“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Lives built on pigeon dreams
structured by Madison Avenue
calculated by Wall Street
beribboned by Hollywood
We take them: these manufactured dreams,
one-size-fits-all, straight off the rack . . .
And damn cheap too!
Mad, cannibal pigeon dreams
turn good minds and whole hearts into mince
We pray to false economies,
seek deliverance from Cheap Jack
We buy one, get one free –
And fetch and fetish youth eternal
from face-lifts, Botox™, and boob-jobs –
Exit here:
drugs, alcohol
sex-a-PEAL
en-ter-TAIN-ment.
Get a house, a car, a jewel –
Be the first on your block.
Buy now. Pay later.
Filling the empty with nothing more,
something less . . .
and warehousing our souls, they
gather dust in public storage . . .
the first month free.
Poems unwritten. Songs unsung.
Chumped. Stumped. Petrified.
A gullible human Pigeon Pie,
neatly boxed, wrapped to go.
© 2017, poem, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved; Photo credit – Lars Konzack, Public Domain Pictures.net.
WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT
How gullible we humans can be. Tell us about that. In what ways are we “Chumped. Stumped. Petrified.”
Share your poem/s on theme or a link to it/them in the comments section below.
All poems on theme will be published next Tuesday. Please do NOT email your poem to me or leave it on Facebook. If you do it’s likely I’ll miss it or not see it in time.
IF this is your first time joining us for The Poet by Day, Wednesday Writing Prompt, please send a brief bio and photo to me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com in order to introduce yourself to the community … and to me :-). These will be partnered with your poem/s on first publication.
PLEASE send the bio ONLY if you are with us on this for the first time AND only if you have posted a poem (or a link to one of yours) on theme in the comments section below.
Deadline: Monday, August 6 at 8 p.m. Pacific.
Anyone may take part Wednesday Writing Prompt, no matter the status of your career: novice, emerging or pro. It’s about exercising the poetic muscle, sharing your work, and getting to know other poets who might be new to you. This is a discerning nonjudgemental place to connect.
ABOUT
Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. Currently I run this site, The Poet by Day, an information hub for poets and writers. I am the managing editor of The BeZine published by The Bardo Group Beguines (originally The Bardo Group), a virtual arts collective I founded. I am a weekly contributor to Beguine Again, a site showcasing spiritual writers.
My work is featured in a variety of publications and on sites, including: Levure littéraure, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature,Compass Rose, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman.
I hope I’m not too late! This is my first time (I will send you an email with my info). Thank you for this thought provoking poem and prompt!
Here is my response:
https://iidorun.wordpress.com/2018/08/06/unlearning/
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Great. Pleased to have you with us.
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Hi Jamie,
Here’s my fourth response:
Target Customer Reached
FORGET THE CLICHÉ
Remember a time when you thought
you would live forever,
you were immortal.
Well, we can offer you
that time again,
that time without wrinkles,
you felt not tiredness,
but joy reaching the summit,
your mind was not dull,
and blunted but sharp
and alive.
When you could make a difference.
We offer you
that time again.
You’re welcome to visit
and feel the difference
at any of our shops,
or look online, experience
the virtual models
of you at your best.
Terms and conditions apply.
(From “The Spermbot Blues”, OpPRESS, 2017)
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Hi Jamie,
Here’s my third response:
A So Last Year
on trend,
upgrade
style conscious,
fashion,
old school ,
obsolescence,
need not want
is invention
to makes me buy more.
There was once only one
suit, tie, shoes,
golden age that never existed.
I’m suggestible to better,
faster, cleaner, sexier,
leaner, easier.
Pure impulse. I kid myself
It’s all deliberated,
considered, thought through,
that I’m reasonable.
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The Black Pigeon: https://momentsbloc.wordpress.com/2018/08/03/the-black-pigeon-english-and-catalan-versions/
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Choices
We can watch the ads
that air like heartbeats
before viral videos
during news or bad sit com reruns
we can inhale the small print
the fast talker spewing
tales of disease and death
side effects to life
in the passing lane
of twenty-first century pharma
whose lobbyists build
artificial islands in the ocean
from whence they will come
to bury the quick and the dead
right after we talk to our doctors
about the newest tetra-recyclable
pseudo-opioid topical cream
to apply to any symptom
for a complete revival
of ancient natural biomes
in the bowels of our bowels.
Or we can stop the movement
from wallet to Wall Street
bank to brokers
hand to mouth
go for a walk sing a song
paint a picture throw a baseball
skate from here to there
play the piano or even the drums
bake a cake chop kohlrabi into salad
build a fence for the chickens
swim to Penny Island and back
take deep breaths in quiet rooms
until Roman candles release
clouds of butterflies
that completely engulf
the labs dissolve the white coats
turn back the chemical clock.
Cue the rainbow.
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#fear
‘ i was scared of saying it, telling it, so
long. only recently shared it. they seem
to like it ‘
yes.
‘do you like it?’
yes. i like it too.
‘will i be scared again though?’
yes.probably.
sbm.
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. no horizontal line .
early it came,where there are no roads, no silent killer.
spinning. set me free. let me see swallows return to
nest.
let us cause a reaction, turn our heads quickly. no one
is looking, there is no one here. we are not afraid of
the night.
we spin.
soft cottons, whimsy thread, mothlike.
turn about hour on hour. your time is
come.
we spin.
to spite silent killers.
sbm.
(written for those with out understanding)
asd
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Thanks Jamie….the first response
.. small item ..
what you see is magnified.
they leave here larger than life,
petrified in their own forests.
scan beds and lens.
light the cracks, the boxes.
tie the books closed, leather
bound, broken, words lost.
boxes can be opened to
reveal.
sbm.
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denimous snake
there was a ne’er-do-well who lived nearby,
his smile the potting soil his words the sphagnum,
he beamed and charmed the chicks, the milfs, the spry,
and toasted conquests with a well-chilled magnum.
with jeans and opal-buttoned shirt and hat
he two-step-swept the younguns into bed,
and played with fiery reds, and blondes, and flat-
blacked glossless goth girls, poor to topdrawer-bred.
one found he’d used an alias with her
but on the fly he cooked a quick excuse
and soon he moved to who was more demure,
less gullible, and up for frequent use.
he’s down and out now, old and full of grief–
not quite a rapist. certainly a thief.
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Loved this poem with such great imagery and powerful message.
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Thank you, dear Marta. It is so nice to know that you are there, reading and writing.
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Yes, still there. I have enjoyed this poem of yours very much for the way the words sound, for the elaborate use of language and metaphors. However, I have had to look up many words (remember, English is my third language!), and I don’t really understand the whole poem, but I like it very much.
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Forgive if this is a repost – it doesn’t let me know
Jamie – This should be an interesting round!
Encore over and over
Free trial offer
1-800 holds all the secrets
3 easy steps to whatever you’re looking for
4 pills to increase the places you want to grow
or reduce those you don’t
also increases your energy and productivity
libido and get up and go
every electronic was to free up time
which is now spent tied to those same
voluntary monitoring devices
tracking our location, heart rate and friends
Votes to make America Great again failed
to determine which America that was –
the Founding and Philandering Fathers?
When slavery was a measure of wealth?
When women and children of the white men
were also chattel?
When only property owning white men
could vote for other property owning
white men?
When women were denied education,
credit, and the right to own property?
When children had no protection
from abuse or labor and no
guaranteed education?
When Change is Possible didn’t define
the where and what and the only real
change was the late night show hosting
the White House friend of Weinstein
and the golf courses and Hawaiian
vacation spots he would be staying
and the increase in racial volatility
and the lack of accountability
because no one wanted to appear
prejudiced
and the continued
proliferation of the great pretend
that the next election will
be the one just the way the last
war – whatever it was – would be the last
and neither will ever be because
if there is one thing we know
it is how to repeat past mistakes
over and over.
So for a limited time only
and for those reading this
I am offering a free book – ‘3 Easy Steps
to the Life, Family and Country You Want”
with a free 30 day sample of supplements
to improve you and those around you for
just the shipping and handling costs of
$39.95. Just send your name
address and credit card number and
receive this limited time free offer.
It will prove change is possible and
make America great again.
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Not a repost. No worries in any event. Thanks for this. Yes! An interesting round. 👏😊
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Love this poem, very eloquent and political.
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thank you!
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You are welcome.
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Hi Jamie,
Here’s my second response:
Teeters
on edges of his arms,
frozen peas, coffee jars,
large pack of ice cubes,
two tins of dog food,
Smiles as unloads it all
on my conveyor.
“Let me guess, you only
came in for one thing?”
He smiles “And I haven’t
even got that.”
“Shows the shop worked.”
I offer as I blip through
his collection. No answer
as he fills his rucksack.
(from a forthcoming collection called “Please Take Change”)
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Hi Jamie,
Here’s my first response:
A Retail (for Mark)
Park where your psychology is assaulted
by money hankering aisles that say buy me,
where all is marked up as essential, basic.
Necessary for your wellbeing and good health.
You travel with a list made at home,
yet are assailed by choices symptomatic
of freedom, of indulgence, of sensual overload.
Tricked into a purchase that is more than you need.
(from a forthcoming collection called “Please Take Change”)
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👍
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