simulacrum

Reflective of issues I deal with on a daily basis, some enumerated below, many not.... I am a professional who hates corporate identity. I am a consumer who rails against Wal-Mart-ization. I am a spiritual person who resents organized & intrusive  religion. Can I be these things at one time? Can I be authentic? Am I digging my own burial vault through trying?

* * *

Smelled upon breath is

sweet bottled optimism

swallowed, pasteurized

chemically-born mask

translucence over eyes grants

sight as though a veil

a shelter velveteen-tender

demeanor muted, certitude paled

a stimulating simulacrum

this aftertaste of life

about my spirit a phantasm

flavored of doubt and paranoia

from assorted petty annoyances

it cradles like a shroud of

sumptuous cashmere

proud rococo styling and

foolish notions held dear-

ideas, ideals and influence.

The motion of a hand

a finger’s minute twitch

yet no movement felt

the air remains unmixed

mind ponders signals

dealt and ignored, transfixed

then legs turn about-face

brain racing over unissued command

in its stead the field animates

jaw muscles skulking to

upturn, cannot withstand

craggy smile pasted over cracked lips

presenting to existence

a vision neither wanted nor real

structure with soft plastic outside

and innards of limpid steel expands

and ripens into a plenary prison keep

buttressed by cruel homilies

spirit inside sits petrified

waiting in vain for resolution

in a self-styled sepulcher.