American History

The founders, full of themselves and Enlightenment,
Sold us their dream. It was false from the start
(“All men are equal, except for slaves”), and their
Seventeen-jeweled watch-work universe came
Apart. Their beakers and flasks, their sense of
Balance, their equilibrium, ruined twice, in colonies
Where all the savages, babbling, called them wrong,
And at home, where the numbers, in chalk, in the
Classrooms, suggested that balance was not to be
Found. Everything, actually, lurches absurdly
As quanta to waves, and no one is saved, and no
One knows anything. Science, now humbled,
Is silent, and, in its place, we receive marketing.
Truth, if it was, is interred. At its grave, we find
Pitches and spin, speech for advantage, and no one
Believes anything that they hear. And no one
Believes in the claims of Enlightenment. Get what
You can. Say what you must. Make a nightmare
Of what was a dream.



Poetry by Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
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Written on 2010-02-06 at 01:11

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