by Walt Garlington (July 2021)
The Human Condition, Rene Magritte, 1933
Not so long ago,
In the miserable
Ages of slavery,
Our wills and passions were
Restrained by obedience
To parents and the care
Of the bodies of aging
Grandsires. But the forward
March of Progress has freed us
From the dungeon-home.
Alone in our apartments,
Unencumbered
With the care of others,
Our personalities
Are free to develop
With the help of Paxil
And a dose of Xanax.
Liberated
From garden, cow, and kitchen
We let McDonald’s
Mass-produce our daily meals.
The repetition
Of elders’ ancient tales
Oppresses us no more.
A smart phone and a streaming
Service will weave a new
Mythology to give
Meaning to our lives.
And if life should become
Too difficult to bear,
We will end it
Comfortably and quickly
With a doctor by our side,
Administering
To us the final
Benediction
Of all-kind pharmakeia.
Consciousness,
This product of Universal evolution,
Will dissolve again
To background radiation—
This body, through chemical cremation,
To its tiny atoms—
Seed and nourishment
For the new and higher
Forms of life germinating
In the cosmic womb.
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Walt Garlington was born and raised in that part of Dixieland called Louisiana. A chemical engineer by training, he has spent the last several years writing full-time. He has written essays and poems for The Hayride, The Tenth Amendment Center, The Abbeville Institute, Reckonin’, Katehon, Geopolitica, and USA Really. He writes regularly at his own web site, Confiteri: A Southern Perspective.
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