Mind and Machine. Poetry by Cameron Gordon. Peppercorn Rocket E-Poetry 2005 Staten Island, NY

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Mind and Machine. Poetry by Cameron Gordon. Peppercorn Rocket E-Poetry 2005 Staten Island, NY"

Ralph Wilkinson
6 years ago
Views:

2 Mind and Machine Poetry by Cameron Gordon Peppercorn Rocket E-Poetry 2005 Staten Island, NY

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS MACHINES...AND THE PEOPLE WHO NEED THEM...1 METROLINER LUDDITE...5 RUSHING A GROUP OF HAIKU...8 FEAR...9 FUNCTIONALITY...11 HOPELESS...13 SLEEPY WANDERINGS...15 TRIFLE...16

5 MACHINES...AND THE PEOPLE WHO NEED THEM Ocean tide rolling in sounds like traffic outside my window Ebb and flow a mighty rush growing to overpowering at times Hiss of the heat the radiator grows louder steadier; a high-powered whir. Can only dogs hear it? Obviously not 1

6 since I do now. Not only hear but feel vibration. And noticed beyond that the sound of my computer as it computes, though apparently sitting still: an even higher pitch, a whine a steady near silent scream The sound that an intercom makes just after being turned on during an airplane flight but just before the steward makes an announcement; that sound if you know what I mean Blinking green lights shout go better set the clock on that VCR, 2

7 stereo, too So they can keep time. And they do keep time their own Blinking red lights shout stop but here the analogy breaks down a sign that the power supply supplies plural are on And now the refrigerator emits its forlorn hum a thankfully lower timbre punctuated by a loud click before it starts and as it ends The fan from this building s internal circulation system turns on and off 3

8 It reminds me of a hair dryer going in the distance Bullfrogs, crickets, birds, mosquitos their mechanical equivalents all chirping away in this urban marsh Then I notice the gurgle of fluid vibrating through me What is that? Oh. My stomach. I had forgotten that was there. 4

9 METROLINER LUDDITE Temerity hand holding pen writing on paper it all sitting on my lap Palm Pilots to the right of me cell phones to the left Into the Valley of Dearth rode the six hundred megahertz Intel (c) Microsoft Windows 98 infrared port laptops 5

10 all around me back and forth to the Club Car What better place? To get a caffeine and spread out with your Power Point Presentation (c) And here I sit with my pen and paper Life on Mars Newsweekly headline And funny thing this Steel train on Steel rails Conductor takes my paper ticket and tears it in two And I hear the tear the working couple next to me 6

11 arguing she: Honey why are you being such a dope? As he tried to get out of some appointment and foist it upon her I thought they were coworkers until I heard the word honey (not dope ) Flesh and bone and blood and Steel on Steel and zeroes and ones and electromagnetic fields Honey why are you being such a dope? 7

12 RUSHING A GROUP OF HAIKU Rushing to a group I worry that I am late. Late, yes, but on time. Eyes burning with wear. So much to see and to do. Yet I am alive. Ocean glistens there. A woman walks down the street. Living knows no time. 8

13 FEAR Still there last time I checked Always checking like a man without overdraft protection on an account which is technically bankrupt. Technicality He got off on one. But it didn t help 9

14 It still was there last time I checked Out And I am always checking Out 10

15 FUNCTIONALITY In what sense are you functioning if you don t feel anything? Go through faded motioning. Walk as if talk as if you were alive? In what sense are you anything if there is no sensation? 11

16 A facade a ruse a trick of the light which fools most people including yourself almost? Almost is not good enough. Better ask again. 12

17 HOPELESS Lacking hope, the will to go on. Perhaps will is not the problem here. Is it a question of emphasis? What word to use to put in front of this one or that one? It can make all the difference in the world Maybe the world or the words maybe 13

18 Everything says stop or seems to. Looks can be deceiving. If so, I am prone to deception on the first glance first sign of trouble real or imagined. Perhaps it is all in my head maybe perhaps possibly conceivably arguably logically I check and find that I am still here. I think therefore I am but not thinking doesn t seem to make me go away. Drat. 14

19 SLEEPY WANDERINGS Eye lids. They call them that for a reason. They close heavy tight like iron. They cannot keep my mind from wandering however. No keeping that down or in or on or still. Body rests The mind doesn't. 15

20 TRIFLE Heaven and earth all mixed up together like this toy monkey brain a human bane source of all art and pointless murder scared of living not of dying except some times that s reversed and sometimes it s nothing at all 16

21 Mind and Machine about the book: Mind and Machine is Cameron Gordon s third book of poems. He likes to tackle themes in his book and in this one he writes of the challenge that machines and technology bring to the daily life of thinking and feeling human beings. about the author: Cameron Gordon started out in a life as a practical soul, seeking to build a quasi-academic career by getting a doctorate in economics, doing public policy research work, teaching in graduate and undergraduate institutions, and generally being a solid citizen amongst other things. But all along the soul of a writer burned within him and writers souls, as we all knew, breed subversion. Slowly at first, Cameron wrote poems, short stories, novels and an odd assortment of stuff and then, at a quickening pace, this writing began to push out more and more of his respectable and certainly more remunerative efforts. Now Dr. Gordon (why not use the title so hard-earned?) is a positive lolly-gagger in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau (his personal hero), who, though poor, is much happier. Published by Peppercorn Rocket E-Poetry 2005

30 Days of Poetry. Nick Strothmann

30 Days of Poetry. Nick Strothmann 30 Days of Poetry Nick Strothmann Day 1: Concrete Poem Day 2: Synonym Poetry Sports Work, discipline, teams, success, Play hard to become the best. Day 3: Opposites What is the opposite of day? Maybe it