It’s only fitting
that a substance so yielding
manifests in this century —
an era of great
plasticity
where convenience
is prized,
anything is possible
and dreams can be
supersized.
Noun or adjective?
Mutant or mineral?
Impersonal, pliable,
everyone’s friend—
reaching the ends
of the earth like cancer
or an obnoxious aura
finding its way
even to Antarctica —
formless matter
from the earth’s fat marrow
it rises, coaxed to life,
cheaper than paper,
more crucial than gold:
an odd sort of colloid
with untold potential
to capture and mold,
a flick of the wrist
of a restless molecule,
and all things
become possible
infiltrating all creation,
our bodies, our seas, land
blood —
the melted stitches of surgeries,
the duck in my child’s clasped fist
this LCD screen
names of polymers
cold like Aphex Twin
soft on my skin,
rayon — dacron — orlon
creating needs
previously unfelt
like a stealthy professional lover
going deep within
melting to please
seducing our souls
appearing in dreams
and the hearts of the innocent
begging for Elmos and Barbies,
replacing rocks and trees —
making nature obsolete
Our desires,
finally made flesh —
cast for eternity
in a substrate
befitting the masses,
bumbling Prometheans
waving Zippos to a God
who’s really just Jimmy Buffet,
and hoping that
the cheeseburgers in paradise
come with special sauce.
© Psyche Marks 2006