"In the 1950s the scientists who created the atomic bomb offered a promise, by splitting the atom we could have a limitless supply of electricity that could end pollution and bring peace to the world forever, but after the disaster in Japan, that dream has never looked more like a nightmare."
- Narrator in "The Thorium Dream"
- Narrator in "The Thorium Dream"
_______
A map, from overhead, spells a loose bombing pattern over
the destroyed ash of a once proud Western city. The doomsday vibe is instilled
pervasively, even from twelve thousand feet. I descend. Hooded, disguised in
the female clothing of a conservative Iranian Muslim woman, I defy gravity,
bounding over farmyards and plains with ghastly unconcern for my step.
American, I daydream momentous bravery in the hook of Ali, the most famous
American Muslim. Finally, I arrive to a gathering of young people my age.
Crowding around a midday fire, we clumsily fiddle with various instruments.
Curiously, I see an old friend. People begin to single me out. “Play this! Play
that!” They stammer, belligerent with string and reed instruments sounding off
into unbroken landscapes, the sobering spring sky presses coldly on my
uncovered scalp. Every instrument I touch is in disrepair. Unable to make a
clear sound, I move on to alcohol.
glum rising, toward peak's,
unearthed sudden, as an island explosion,
tectonic wires flattening,
the disbelieving abortion!
the worshipped spring,
overloaded with unfound substance,
anonymity, in a human non-being,
a wasted mold, singing on the harmonious road,
to the past, when the all-encompassing now,
expressed self to a universal song
archaic, yet everlasting
and then, always gone,
fizzed out in the solar flare
pop flash, grazed heat from the mythological
drumbeat, groundless vibrations,
mounting birthless, made from dark matter,
living only to the taste,
dust on the wordless tongue,
a silence, encased in an echo
never bound,
we, fortunate,
binge on the profound.
_______
Ash
"Dreaming of ashes omens woe, and many bitter changes are sure to come to the dreamer. Blasted crops to the farmer. Unsuccessful deals for the trader. Parents will reap the sorrows of wayward children." (iDream)
_______
nervous mule-packed, people's spread,glum rising, toward peak's,
unearthed sudden, as an island explosion,
tectonic wires flattening,
the disbelieving abortion!
the worshipped spring,
overloaded with unfound substance,
anonymity, in a human non-being,
a wasted mold, singing on the harmonious road,
to the past, when the all-encompassing now,
expressed self to a universal song
archaic, yet everlasting
and then, always gone,
fizzed out in the solar flare
pop flash, grazed heat from the mythological
drumbeat, groundless vibrations,
mounting birthless, made from dark matter,
living only to the taste,
dust on the wordless tongue,
a silence, encased in an echo
never bound,
we, fortunate,
binge on the profound.
non-violent technology indeed:
ReplyDelete"a silence, encased in an echo [the past]
never bound, ["the all-encompassing now" for self to sing the universal]
we, fortunate, ["mounting birthless," hearing the "mythological drumbeat']
binge on the profound. [there's a reason the gods only get involved when we mess around with splitting atoms]