Vertigo

Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue; for money comes between a man and his objects, and obtains them for him; it was certainly no great virtue to obtain it. - Thoreau

gastric ground zero

dizzy, spinning hero

atomic war is declared

nuclear winter present and accounted for, sir

acid tears are raining down

on yesterday's tasty crop

somewhere a crater is vomiting

life corrupt

reason dormant

i was sitting

watching the paint dry

why must things erupt

the bayonet charge so abrupt

here on the battlefield of upchuck central

where existence is an expensive, off-kilter rental

some old lady stole my toilet paper

Author's Note

"I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. … The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains." - Thoreau

Reviews

[barleygirl]

Sometimes, sitting in my wilderness cocoon for months at a time without being very much touched by the madness "out there" where everyone else lives . . . sometimes I look at what's "out there" & it looks about as ugly & distorted & ravaged & uninviting as your poem sounds. This is the basis for my complete lack of desire to join the human race anymore *wink! wink!* Happy Easter! (((HUGS))) Fondly Margie

[Pete]

as i get older i feel like more and more of a misfit in society. it all seems so ridiculous to me. i think thoreau had it right a long time ago way before his time. people thought he was crazy but i think it's the other way around. thank you margie for sharing honest truth ... :)

[andrew mitchell]

During covid outbreaks there was a panic buying of toilet paper in case of lockdown whereby people were buying 6months worth, it was crazy and there was a shortage for normal buyers. Back to the poem the crater vomiting , excellent line does depict either excessive consumption or repulsion over money spending. The frantic pace of man over the centuries does depict vertigo.

[Pete]

good take on things andrew. its like an every man for himself situation. if having the virus doesn't make you dizzy then the fallout effects will. sometimes i wonder if things will ever get back to ''normal". keep safe down under andrew ... :)

[Poetic Beauty]

Life right now is extremely chaotic from global warming to the daily struggle of surviving. There are many strong lines presented about these issues in this poem

[Pete]

thanks pb. i can't believe how quickly things keep changing. definitely a game changer. what goes around comes around ... :)

[Chris Shaw]

Sometimes I long for the days when money didn't rule everything. We have become so materialistic. We have become greedy, searching and wanting more and more. The things that truly matter have taken second place. We had very little in my family when I was a child, and everyone we knew was in the same boat, but we still shared what we had. Your last three lines read with humour, but what a point you have made here Pete. Always good to read you.

Chris

[lightsong]

YES! another clever great poem my friend! money, economy, power... i.e human GREED is the main reason behind wars, even those invisible "greediers" who live all around You one day they will steal even your toilet paper without You even noticing it until it's too late, that lady who has been living sucking and eating everything and will keep doing it even that she is old now, the difference that You "exposed" her at the end :) BTW of course had to laugh at that last line.

[Pete]

the masses brainwashed into thinking that more is better, becoming a slave to possessions. governments holding people down sucking taxes out of them and when that's not enough they take it on the road to force their ideals on others. guns rather than butter. after a while we don't know which end is up. no toilet paper is the final straw. thanks for being a light song in these wild times ... :)

[Ruth]

I like the surreality of this a lot Pete. Times have changed people, the chaos has become a stillness and normality it seems...gotta watch for those toilet rolls, worth more than gold these days lol Be well my friend :)

[Pete]

surreal - perfect word for this. times certainly are changing. you're right on the mark with your thoughts. thank you and keep well too my friend ... :)