D Base
By artist Nick Gentry
this lead is heavy on my tongue
it blanks my words
stored in magnetic strips where
the music & people of 80s still lives on
my chest sags from stagnant air
& my memories get foggy by
synthetic plastic warping my eyes -
how i wish for a chemical peel to make me
new- smaller &
sleeker as memory card
of 21st century, a young working girl
again madly dashing through the crowd
but being an old woman
sitting by desk filled with obsolete gadgets
has its merits:
i am stamped with past, an absolute tyrant
has its merits:
i am stamped with past, an absolute tyrant
& framed by nostalgia
& relief that no one expects me to be anything else
& relief that no one expects me to be anything else
perhaps one day, i'll be thrown on the moon
to fix my constant eyes over the city
muddy from overflowing artefacts
soiled by hundred car lights racing to find an
empty space
Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Poetics Featuring the work of London-based artist, Nick Gentry ~
To live in the past.. makes it hard when that technology lives can't live on.. how much easier if we can move into a memory card from those obsolete parts...
ReplyDeletestamped with past... i love how you make us hear&feel her..love the thrown on the moon part esp. and how she wants to peel and get rid of the layers... very cool prompt grace.. he's doing some awesome artwork
ReplyDeleteha i am a bit stamped with the past as well...especially the 80s...that made me smile...what a unique generation that was...lol...really cool movement to this...especially toward the end there...i wonder if we will ever get back to the moon...
ReplyDeleteYes I love some pieces of past (especially books) but I try to live the present sigh!
ReplyDeleteI love the part about being thrown on the moon! An intriguing perspective in this poem.
ReplyDeleteHa, was tasting the magnetic disk with you....hope we still can try to be young...this is up to us ...to move through crowd mindfully...
ReplyDelete"but being an old woman sitting by desk filled with obsolete gadgets has its merits . . . no one expects me to be anything else". So true. That's when the fun really begins, I think.
ReplyDeleteSome of we boomers do try, in our way, to keep plugged into the technology tsunami that overwhelms us daily; and yet, we have arrived at that place where we are no longer mainstream, just tolerated tourists by the youngsters. I, too, liked the lines /I am stamped with the past, an absolute tyrant/ & framed by nostalgia/.
ReplyDeleteAmazing write, Grace... How cool would it be if, like data, our essence could be put into memory cards once our bodies become old and obsolete??? love love love
ReplyDeleteI have a great deal of fellow-feeling for you and this poem.
ReplyDeleteoh! my wow!!! This poem hit me right in my face. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI see this poem as a surrealistic world of a woman trying to find her place in the 21st century. All technology for the young and for the old, slipping away and caught in the grips of machines. :)
Brilliant! Just Brilliant!
Stamped with the past. Wonderful poem, with some stunning imagery. I just love these lines:
ReplyDelete"framed by nostalgia
& relief that no one expects me to be anything else"
Thanks for the prompt; it's a lot of fun.
Loved this. We can't go back, but age indeed has its merits, AND it never rules out the possibilities of all that is to come.
ReplyDeleteseems like you've created the contemporary woman... i liked how you gave this personality
ReplyDeleteAh yes, sometimes I do think the earth is becoming 'muddy with overflowing artifacts.' I do wonder where we will eventually put them all. Art definitely is a good usage.
ReplyDeleteA lot of great images in your poem, Grace. Like many others I like 'i am stamped with past, an absolute tyrant' as well as so many of your images. I like how they evoke familiar situations and feelings.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful poem, how it takes me back to that time and treasure those memories, so glad I have them to cherish.
ReplyDeleteWe are all stamped with a bit of past I think
ReplyDeleteDelicious images here. The chemical peel is my favourite! But I also loved the idea of 80s people and music living in magnetic strips. Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteOh I like this. It has a little sci-fi feel to it. I laughed at the chemical peel. Wish there was a miraculous one for me. But I too like that I had deep memories and many of them. I hope we don't pollute the moon, but sadly, it wouldn't surprise me. Wonderful writing Grace.
ReplyDeleteThere are some great lines here stamped with the past aren't we all stamped a bit..and being thrown on the moon might be a bit exciting. Thanks for the cool prompt.
ReplyDeleteThough the world is moving very fast in every way be it technology, fashion or anything, but we should alway remember the past and cherish it always.
ReplyDeleteloved the images -- embracing the older ways
ReplyDeleteCertainly an interesting medium that Mr. Gentry has lent us here today...the desire to be new can certainly make us feel like we are obsolete.
ReplyDeletecomfort comes in what we grasp and hold fast to. Your poem really made me think of my own life and ensuing changes.
ReplyDeleteAfter living 30 some odd years working in the rat race of the mechanical cognition of workplace metal.. i can truly say it can erase the human heart.. at least.. and even the soul.. if one cannot escape.. and it is cumulative and high arisen in the plates filled with it all at once.. in a child's life now...
ReplyDeleteTo turn it off when one can is truly GRACE now.. for me...:)
dystopian ~
ReplyDeleteOh this pressure to be high tech savvy is utterly banal and boring. It makes people stupid.
ReplyDeleteI admit, I still bear the stamp of the 80s. It was, we'll just say, an eye opener of a decade for me. As always, thank you for sharing your work. It's beautiful. Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteElsie
I love the feeling of self-acceptance while still hanging onto a dream or two...a strong write for sure!
ReplyDeletebeautiful interpretation for the art work .. and true lines indeed..
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Grace..
Yep, we are all stamped with the past. And it is a relief when there are no expectations to do anything else. Yes! I like all the places your poem took me.
ReplyDeleteI think many of us were drawn into a blend of the past and present, Grace. We are, indeed made up of "data" acquired through the years. I remember those first huge desktops but then I remember when we weren't allowed to use calculators in school.
ReplyDeletemuddy from overflowing artefacts
ReplyDeletesoiled by hundred car lights racing to find an
empty space
The mad rush will still be there. The period may be different but the concern and the difficulties are the same anywhere in the world! Wonderful write Grace!
Hank
I enjoyed the twists and turns of your piece!
ReplyDeleteLove the imagery...and I think I would rather be "stamped with past" and surrounded by nostalgia, than just another one of the latest, greatest, sleeker models of anything.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this prompt! :)