I breeze through the produce isle,
lettuce ripe and blooming in natural green;
nature’s dizzying spectrum of herbs and roots.
I breeze through,
past artisan breads, still oven-fresh,
past delicate pastries, sugar-spun
and sweet.
Strolling down, by the merchant’s haunts,
until I reach the Chinese Buffet:
America’s cheap imitation of the Orient,
simmering beneath florescent lighting.
I snatch up my styrofoam plate
and pile it high with luke-warm lo mein,
General Tso’s Chicken, and crispy rice noodles,
all drowned in grease and oil.
I pay my seven dollars, and ascend the balcony,
overlooking all the proceedings of the super-market.
Plastic ivy, painted a sickly hue of green,
climbs about synthetic pillars and terraces.
Concrete disguised as cobblestone is laid beneath my feet.
The wooden melody of a piano
drifts lazily over the scene.
I set my tray upon a table adjacent to the instrument,
never raising my eyes,
and set off across the floor to pick up a drink.
I don’t care what it is, really,
so long as it is supersaturated with sugar,
and drenched with carbon solute.
Thusly satisfied, I return in triumph to my table,
so that I may occupy myself with consumption.
The piano sounds loudly and rudely,
cutting through the mist of my suburban daydream.
The notes are sharp and scattered,
devoid of the imprint of human guidance.
Contemptuously, I lift my head,
and see a piano, with no artist seated
At its front, sailing through Intermezzo, as if
some spirit-shadow of Beethoven were
gently prodding it along.
“Lies,” I hissed through teeth clenched in disbelieving rage,
and storm away from the glaring symbol
of the modern metropolis, but it will not stop
reverberating in my ears.
If art and life can be reduced to patterns and formulas,
what hope is there for humanity?
A contest entry
- round three; without stopping. by broken-colours.
700 points, ended January 28, 8 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - You choose! by sunsunny3235.
415 points, ended March 21, 12 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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What a fantastic read! This could have also been called,"Suburban Daydream"
Awesome imagery and sound rang forth from this awesome piece! I truly enjoyed reading your work!
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love everything about this, except for the linebreaks. they're weird. [to me anyways]
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good!
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Indeed, I concur Miss Rose
I'm also studying a degree in Music and I thoroughly dislike the techological "breakthroughs" being used to substitute live performance...
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I found this very deep and not only a statement about yourself but about society in general and what our world is turning into.
It was interesting to see the contrasts between the trip to the grocery store, the Chinese buffet, and the sight of the piano. Was also full of beautiful imagery.
I hope you really didn't think about this though, because that was the idea.
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