you didnt weigh the chain did ya doc?

we all know the Combine.

the Combine hums

my weekend differential

gives me

an extra

.50 cents

an hour

as

the Combine hums.

 

the big nurse laughs

as i scramble

and wriggle

under the big black boys

i wouldnt

take my pill

orally

they've

arranged

for something else.

 

the Combine hums

and the big nurse

laughs

as i

keep my head

buried

in

a book.

 

the fog sounded so good.

i couldnt resist.

i couldnt fight.

 

that was then.

this is now.

 

i feel big again.

i feel big as a damn house.

Reviews

[KUFU]

Boyd, I want to know what it all means. This rarely happens, but i'm stumped. I got an image of a fat nurse and a pair of Black balls...this can't be right. Then you tell us, with:

"that was then.
this is now."

...that this has all been a flashback of some sort. huh???? Details my friend, details.

[Rusty]

Right below his name, "we all know the Combine." That should be enough for anyone.
The Chief. Randall. Ratched. I know them all. I am of an age. I woke up this morning and I felt just like the Chief, "big as a damned house." (Not often these days.)
Google got me here, and after seeing Boyd's bright light, I signed up. Not a joiner, I.
"... head... buried... in... a book." ?? Come on people. The next five lines are expository: addiction! Two more: "recovery". "the Combine" is one side of a blue-collar metaphore aimed at what we all know, the grinding of Life. "the big nurse", the other, the impersonal compartmentalization of Society. Boyd, don't know when it could happen, but if we ever crossed paths, I'd love to tilt a brew.

[Logan Carryall]

Holy F**k. Why haven't I read this before?

[Mark]

I have no clue either, but it sings like a road gang, going from work to some other place. God only knows where that is, with a 50 cent differential. In pay or in power (?) Differentials are different, ya know.

[Raef C. Boylan]

Anyone who's read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest will recognise elements of it here: the fog, the black psyhciatric warden guys, the nurse as enemy, the Combine...the only thing I can't work out, as it's been nearly a year since I last read it, is whether this is a direct poetic translation of the story or whether you've included certain parts of the Chief's perspective in a poetic vision of your own.
I think the last two lines are a quote from the book, aren't they[?] which is what makes me think you're writing about Kesey's "Chief"...but I'm not sure. I can't remember if he reads much in the novel, or whether part of his deaf-mute act was also acting like he didn't understand much.

I like the way you've structure the line breaks, setting the pace and rhythm.

Cheers for your review, and for sharing this piece with us.

[KUFU]

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest: an excellent film. Nicholas, one of my favorite actors! Ahh yes, everything's much more clear. Thank you. Yeah, we do feel bigger once we realize that those surrounding us are so much more smaller and their behavior is a result of that diminutiveness. Spot on!

[W.k.kortas]

Has a One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest feel to it, in a sense, reminiscent of The Chief re-discovering his strength, but it doesn't seem that it should necessarily be taken that literally; perhaps it's more of the notion of rising above being ground down by the same-old same-old (cf. "the Combine"). It's tightly constructed, thought provoking stuff.