Silicon glow marred by the flow
of words, and pictures, cascading
down eyes gone glassy, seen too much
Sad guitar warbles across empty rooms,
I know sometimes it gets too much
But tell me baby, have you had enough
Hands pause, cradling head and smoothing hair
he thinks, yeah, it gets too much, this searching,
stirring of the silt in the memory tank
Invisible engines make it so easy, and so hard
to stop, when the past is lying in wait
just clicks away, under trembling fingers
And I know sometimes I can be too much
No, no, he whispers, you were never too much;
This electronic memory web, baby, it drowns me
Lines in italics were quoted from the song "Tell Me Baby (Have You Had Enough)" by Phosphorescent, on the album Here's To Taking It Easy, a mighty fine indie/alt-country work of art.
Posts
I had a post that also garnered the big goose egg and I did a similar thing: c'mon, guys, REALLY?
ReplyDeleteWho knows the confluence of events that created this void? And especially when you are writing about 'being too much' and no one responds. Well, what are you supposed to make of that?
I'm not sure how I feel about the poem itself -- it took me two or three readings for it to come together in my mind. Not your deal, mine. I think it works as a story of the power of the internet, the things we save and can 'repossess' on the web, things that maybe aren't helpful to us anymore. And it is addicting. I know what you mean. It gives me the opportunity to pick the scab of things I should really just leave alone. But there you go. If it wasn't the internet, it would be a hand-written journal, photographs, and love songs.
I hadn't seen this one, so that's why I didn't comment (or leave a goose-egg of a comment, as I sometimes do).
ReplyDeleteI like it. But I do wonder about the electronic memory web, cuz I'm not sure what that's about. I can hazard a guess, but it's probably not a good one. :-)
You are a terrific writer of poetry. But you probably already know that. I wonder if this poem hit too close to home for some of us, spending all our time stuck online. Maybe that is why nobody commented. Believe me, if I went through my archives basing quality on comments, my all time "best" post is a photo of Lindsay Lohan stepping out of a limo without any underwear.
ReplyDeleteI second what Neil said.
ReplyDeleteOops. Thought I had clicked 'anonymous.'
ReplyDeleteGreat poem, Kevin!
eight.
ReplyDeletesmiles!
Stirring of the silt can take a lot.
ReplyDeleteAm a fan of spiders, and the internet is always some good stuff.
ReplyDeleteAm commenting on a Saturday night!
before I even read your footnote I had that song running through my head...sorry I missed this earlier :)
ReplyDelete