Erasing the Wizard

by BarrettBenedict

Published March 11, 2013

16+ Language

Warning: This work has been rated 16+ for language.

all the dead showed up
there was cause for alarm
we phoned the president
we telepathied the jesus
 
kids rotting on seesaws
drippers at every door
we all went kind of nuts
i had to kill my wife again
 
then all the dead rockers
plugged in and had a jam
but they sucked because
well, no muscle mass
 
it was developed quick:
The Dismemberment Virus
and declared an element
right along with wind and fire
 
we put that shit in the clouds
and in the cats and dogs
we put that shit on our gums
and in our snack ads
 
bodies exploded everywhere
it rained fingers and toes
we learned to love The Virus
it became our symbol
 
the dead were deader
and our world was made
mostly of gross meat
sinew and bone spray
 
The Virus ran for office
and won in a landslide
cheers in the meaty streets
it dismembered our ideals
 
it dismembered the word
it disremember world
idis tremender woad
idst membder wo
Comments & reviews · 3
SushiSashimi333 wrote a review Review · Mar 31, 2013

So I assume that you either died or went insane at the end. This poem was very graphic, and really confusing. I don't quite get your message, is it that we as a country are tearing ourselves apart? Otherwise the writing was good and grammar was fine.

To clear it up: at the end, the virus dismembered language. Which is a metaphor for whatever you wish it to be.

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Searria H.
Review
Searria H. wrote a review Review · Mar 11, 2013

Hi there! :smt039

Like Carbon, I had no idea what this was about, but it didn't really matter. I don't think the reader needs to know precisely what events are being described for this poem to have an effect on him/her.

My favourite thing about this poem is the imagery. Take, for example, your line:

kids rotting on seesaws

In four words, you created a complete and powerful image capable of evoking several different emotions from the reader. You achieved very good descriptions without wasting words. I applaud you, good sir. :elephant:

Nitpicks:
:arrow:
we telepathied the jesus

The word "telepathied" really bugged me, even for a daring verb. But that's completely up to you.

:arrow: The entire poem is void of punctuation except for three lines. Because the majority of the poem was clean, I found those few commas rather distracting. I really like the idea of no punctuation in this poem, though. It reflects the disorder in the content.

:arrow: Like the punctuation, your capitalization is inconsistent. I think the lower case "jesus" and the upper case "Virus" were intentional to make a point. Don't correct me if I'm wrong. ;) But then the last two lines are capitalized, and it didn't really make sense to me.

:arrow: Your rhythm is very unsettling, if not nonexistent. Again, I wonder if you did that on purpose to reflect the content. But if not, either read it out loud to yourself or have someone else read it to you. Listen to the places where they stumble.

That's really all I have. But again, I'm grasping at things to critique. :)
Happy writing!
-Sea-

Hey, thanks. I'll be taking your advice on the commas and the the capitalization into account, because as you pointed out, only capitalizing The Virus was intentional. Thanks for the review!

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carbonCore
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carbonCore commented Comment · Mar 11, 2013

Don't know what this is about, don't care. Love it. +1



Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.
— William James