Poem 21 of the ProCrasstheNation Poemvember Poetry Project comes from lifelong friend Jason V. His fond remembrance of the irreverent movie comedies of the 1980’s is a fondness I share. In REVENGE OF THE NERDS, character Frederick Aloysius Palowaski (Ogre, you asshole) has a deep philosophical thought. He ponders what if C-A-T really spelled dog?I think this kind of thinking is more of what we need nowadays as we are continually bombarded with information that challenges us to question the fabric of reality as we know it. With flat earthers, antivaxxers, poor people who vote against their self-interest, etc. we are living in a world where intellectual pursuits are chided and reason is openly derided by those that don’t agree with logic. The news is largely propaganda created to keep those of us at the bottom fighting with each other so the scoundrels we elect can carve up the pie for their campaign contributors. In our world, C-A-T does in fact, spell dog, or at least that is what “The Man” would have you believe.
“What If C-A-T Really Spelled Dog?”
What if the earth was flat?
What would you think about that?
What if vaccines didn’t work?
Would a disease resurgence occur?
What if you lost all your rights?
Would you even put up a fight?
What if what is, isn’t?
Would you notice, in this instant?
What does it take to remain?
What staves off the pain?
Enlighten me.
Lighten the load.
Light the road.
I can’t see,
in front of me.
Vision’s obscured by corporate greed.
Accumulated wealth keeps rolling.
Crushing the world beneath its wheel.
How many revolutions, before the revolution?
There are more of us than them.
Disorganized in thought,
but the numbers though.
That would be something,
if the collective could learn,
that C-A-T does not spell Dog.
A spade is a spade.
Democracy ain’t what it used to be.
Democracy is now made,
by buying influence.
We have a nominal Democracy, that is an Oligarchy.
What if D-E-M-O-C-R-A-C-Y really spelled Oligarchy?
Unfortunately, there is no ambiguity here.
It does.
