Indian Giver

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. - Thoreau

walking the cracked streets of this comatose, old, mill town

i keep telling myself that i'm alive even though i've been dead since i got here

the mill buildings bricks stand like stacked bones of a rust-covered, gilded age

their eyesore, smoke stacks invading the skyline

an age when looms spun wool into cloth

on the bent, aching backs of those in need of bread

i stand atop the crumbling bridge overlooking the river that fed the mill power, temporary wealth and false hope

along with tears and broken dreams

i try to count the water droplets that flow past me

thinking that if i can keep a count, somehow i'll make it to heaven

but beads of sweat get in the way, ruining the tally

with sunlight, i can see the riverbed

occasional swirls of polluted foam and rainbowed, chemical slicks

rocks sticking their heads out of the water

gasping for air

they've lost their edge, having been worn down smooth by time and incessant flow

except for summer's arid reprieve

maybe i'm not dead, it only feels that way

but when i am, float my down that same river

it'll be interesting to see where my body ends up and where my soul goes

to learn if time is an almsgiver

to be in a new place and see if domino's pizza, there, does deliver

and to finally know whether life is nothing more than an indian giver

Author's Note

"So, it would seem, few and fewer thoughts visit each growing man from year to year, for the grove in our minds is laid waste, — sold to feed unnecessary fires of ambition, or sent to mill, and there is scarcely a twig left for them to perch on." - Thoreau

Reviews

[Buddhistboy73]

Neat reflective poem here Pete.

Like the use of the old mill and the onward march of technology, rendering jobs obsolete and buildings to rot....
But then, there's the lines about the river and curiosity about the future....providing some hope to the situation

Thanks for sharing my WC friend...

BB73

[Pete]

thanks bb. it's amazing how we all go about our business everyday as if things are forever, including us. then when we learn that something changed or someone is no more, we're shocked.

"All change is a miracle to contemplate; but it is a miracle which it taking place every instant." - Thoreau

[Chris Shaw]

Speaks to me of a different time Pete. Could be any of the old mill towns in the north of my own country. Then comes change, but it isn’t always progress. I think of the future and how AI will take over many jobs and it sends a shiver through me. Nicely penned and descriptive as well as reflective.

Chris

[Pete]

so true chris. what bothers me is the impact it had on the river and environment and after it's all over, they just close the doors and walk away as if nothing ever happened!

[Chris Shaw]

So true, the environment suffers and even today our River Thames is polluted with sewage. I used to swim in the Thames when it was clean!

[Thomas W Case]

Tremendous work, Pete. Powerful.

[Pete]

all true; can't make this stuff up. thanks twc.