Poem of the Day: "caput" by Jonathan Dick

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present "caput" by Jonathan Dick.  Mr. Dick hails from Toronto, Canada. He has been published in The Commonline Journal, Poetry Pacific, and The Write Place at the Write Time.

caput

Jonathan Dick

on a cockroach morning in the middle of my time 

osiris’ wife capitalized on my benignity, she emblazoned 

a visage on a screen promoting parasitic celebrity, voyeurism

itself turning on its head and devouring the world, it had created

fear in the minds of capitalism. 

and then the shiny knife of numbness 

pontificated on cutting out my words, and the freedoms

which shackle me to the grounded beliefs

of capitalism. so now i would exist 

as a sarcastic rolling head

neither gathering moss nor money, nor everything 

else that made me feel

dead. protest on and on 

and on and protest because my corpse would miss me

and my corps is only poetic when it speaks 

out of a tongue-in-blank void, the smiley face

of the future beheaded, i couldn’t help

but notice that my world was so morning

and my dreams were evening lullabies of mismatched 

sleepy eyes rolling to the beat of a knife sawing at my closed-

minded throat. 

Poet's Notes: This poem is a response to the capitalist/consumerist society in which we live. I believe that just because you are born into our system of economics or politics, does not mean that you are born free or born in a better world. Every system is corruptible, including ours, and I think many people numbingly take that for granted. This poem also deals with the fears of the future and the existential crisis of extremism sweeping across the globe. 

Editor's Note:  I find "caput" to be an interesting poetic commentary on mindless consumerism and the seedier side of capitalism.  The poet's play on corpse/corps is particularly inspired.