The Divine Right of Poisoners
Shortly before the crash of 08,
we dumped the toxic instruments
into that big river called the New York Stock Exchange
then sat back and watched
as lights went off across the world
Construction stopped in France
the skeletons of buildings stood exposed
and unfinished like the bones of museum dinosaurs
In South America, the beans rotted in the fields
as the workers sat in their huts staring out the doors
wondering if their neighbors might share some of their atole
come dinner time
In Tokyo, a couple of slant eyes went into their bedrooms
with their ceremonial knives and never came out
It was really much worse than most of you knew
we made out like bandits, of course
ii
The tiny little seeds grow more quickly
than their brethren
They shoot up over night
their limbs heavy with fat red fruit
The trucks will carry them many miles
to the central processing plant
where identical jars of GMO preserves
move down the assembly line like so many sleepers
Yes, we understand that somewhere down the line
someone will have to pay the piper
as people grown indolent
muscles may atrophy a bit
but that will happen much later
and for the time being
our profits for the last quarter
spiked beyond our expectations
We eat organic, of course
you would too, if you knew
what was in those precious little jars
iii
Ouch
she said
as the needle pricked her arm
we gave her a lollipop and the obligatory
bandaid
and within hours
she was jumping rope
with her girlfriends
The tumors won't starts
til much later
and the lawyers have assured us
it will be difficult to make a case
for causal relationship
This shot is a sweetheart
packs a real payload
she will sail through her childhood
as healthy as a horse
no mumps, no measles, no chickenpox
We cut some corners, of course
It's cheapest product on the market
and the stories we lobbied for
New York Times, Washington Post
didn't hurt the profit margin at all
and it'll be years until they figure out
how we made it so cheap
by that time
well, as the French say
Que sera
iv
Recommended for You
Wow
He looked so cool
Bogart with that stogie
drooping off his lip
his eyes steely
as he gave that babe
the what for
Celluloid
you gotta love it
and when the mandates came down
to change the packaging
little death heads
cadaverous infants
warning
this shit will kill you!
Well, by that time it was really too late
we'd hooked a quarter of the planet
and now that they know that they are killing
their children their parents their neighbors their pets
the chance person sitting next to them at the clouded, smoky bar
and they still won’t stop
“Social Poison”
what a beautiful oxymoron
sums up everything
and just as the psychologists had predicted
all those decades of movies
Bogart
Clint Eastwood
Paul Newman
this tiny little GMO seed
the divine right of poisoners
got planted in the collective unconscious
and nothing can stop it now
v
Could you please put it out?
Someone asked coughing a bit
and he stared at her
with round and offended eyes
what kind of selfish little twat
intruding on his after dinner pleasure
as he looked right through her
just like Bogie
stared her down he did
til she crept back to her table
and just to show her
who is the boss here
he blew a few perfect smoke rings
They hung heavy in the air
tiny little mushroom clouds
innocent and deadly
The second law of thermodynamics
says that nothing is ever created or destroyed
these poison halos radiate out forever
each succeeding generation
a further refinement
of a brave new crop
the genetically modified
heartless, consumptive
and relentless in the pursuit
of their divine right
self satisfaction
no matter who gets in your way
Janet Phelan
The opinions expressed here are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions or beliefs of the Hollywood Progressive.
