Going in Tuesday at 10
to replace the cartilage
in the middle knuckle
of my left ring finger
Amazing
that hand was an
arthritic claw
only two weeks
ago
Hoping The Clinic
can also help me out
with the rolls of skin
sagging down around
my new ankles
You see
I’ve managed
to grab a date
with a 27 year old
on Saturday night
and though my face
looks a quarter
of its actual
253 years
I’ve had a
little trouble
keeping up
appearances
in the
clothed
areas
That
reminds me
Got a full
rectum
replacement
coming up
Wednesday
morning
and a complete
pectoral
skin graft
from a young
African donor
at noon
I’m told
they can
color-correct
and match
the pigment
perfectly
Should probably
drop by the bank too
might have to scale back
on the procedures next month
The vital organs
are finally good
but there’s just
so much
maintenance
And sure
there were a
few screams
when my arm fell off
while lifting a latte
at Dean & DeLuca
last year
But that’s
to be
expected
I’m very fortunate
to have made it past
The Singularity
One of the lucky ones
Really living now
Where
the
hell
did I
put
my
damn
keys?
22 responses so far ↓
1 potterspoet | 14 Apr 2008
very nice. the images are vibrant and the wording concise.
2 potterspoet | 14 Apr 2008
dang. stupid submit button. i wasn’t done yet. anyways, nice job. it was well worth the wait:)
potterspoet
3 jancartier | 14 Apr 2008
Whoa, brain stretch, skimming the Singularity at lightening speed. Linear or exponential ? Oops, another synapse snapped. Rich and brainy, a master race, replacement parts, more technology. I better just sip my tea, and enjoy the poetry. Did you check your pockets? On the dresser? Oh no, in the car? Rats!
I like my parts. Well most of them, okay lately only some of them. Damn gravity, it works exponentially I fear.
All best,
Jan
Good to get another read. Thanks.
4 Chantel | 14 Apr 2008
I’m sort of feeling the same way these days. Who is your Doctor? Can I get his number?
5 Robert Bruce | 14 Apr 2008
pp - Thanks for waiting my friend.
6 Robert Bruce | 14 Apr 2008
jancartier - Yes, yes, one of their little problems seems to be gravity.
I mean, how many facelifts can a human endure?
7 Robert Bruce | 14 Apr 2008
Chantel - ;). Smart.
Thanks for coming around.
8 Zak | 14 Apr 2008
You have inspired me to become a revolutionary plastic surgeon with the ad slogan: With a little improvement, you can master this Brave New World.
My folks left for Ukraine today. Two weeks with a quick stop in Greece on the return, so I guess I’ll be staying home reading lots of poetry.
9 Robert Bruce | 14 Apr 2008
Zak - May you achieve exactly what you deserve, massive wealth ;)
Your folks are crazy. And I mean that with great love and affection.
10 TU | 14 Apr 2008
You made my day, Robert. Welcome back…
I seriously admit to wondering not if, but when I will take the old car into the shop for several (dozen) “minor” preservation procedures.
Vanity consumes me. It’s tiring.
Thanks, my friend… thanks.
11 Magnus | 14 Apr 2008
reminds me of the documentary The Soul is Greater than the World about discus thrower Ricky Bruch. He was taking over 400 pills a day until he went to the doctor and learned the true purpose and nature of the liver.
something unnatural about death. some men know they are kindling.
12 potterspoet | 14 Apr 2008
ugh zak…i read that book… although i did not like the book, i’ll admit that it was probably more about the class and the fact that i was weeks away from getting out of high school. oh wait…that was last semester…
13 Robert Bruce | 14 Apr 2008
TU - Let’s have a vanity contest. I’ll give you a run for your damn money…
Thanks for your good words.
14 Robert Bruce | 14 Apr 2008
Magnus - Yeah, the universal reminder of the curse. These “singularians” are trying to beat it back, to keep going, at all costs. I don’t blame them, just that they’re using the wrong club.
“some men know they are kindling.”
Nice.
15 Jecklin | 15 Apr 2008
fit nicely w/ Illich on health-care reading. recommended.
I think of singularity this way: that point where the vertical and horizontal axii (?) meet…living in/with that tension w/out being tossed left/right, up/down. Where the two cross I think might be in the heart. singularity- a fancy way of expressing living “let thine eye be single” all that that statement implies.
“I demand certain liberties for those who would celebrate living rather than preserve “life”:
-the liberty to declare myself sick;
-the liberty to refuse any and all medical treatment at any time;
-the liberty to take any drug or treatment of my own choosing;
-the liberty to be treated by the person of my choice, that is, by anyone in the community who feels called to the practice of healing, whether that person be an acupuncturist, a homeopathic physician, a neurosurgeon, an astrologer, a witch doctor, or someone else;
-the liberty to die without diagnosis.”
http://www.davidtinapple.com/illich/1994_biocracy.html
http://www.davidtinapple.com/illich/1990_health_responsibility.PDF
among his many writings…
16 Robert Bruce | 15 Apr 2008
Jeck -
“The liberty to die without diagnosis.”
That’s my favorite. For some reason we’re obsessed with how folks die… to the point that it defines our memory of them. See: Lyle Alzado, etc.
We’ll see when she really comes around, but if it’s disease in the end for me, think I’ll take the Morphine they hand out and leave the machines and tubes and monstrous bills for others.
17 The Macer | 15 Apr 2008
Lol! I love it. Very Funny. Grandma and I kept getting shocked at what you were saying, then ended up laughing! Very Nice! ^.^
18 Robert Bruce | 15 Apr 2008
Macer - You know, though Grandma and I will be long gone, you might actually live long enough to witness some of this madness. Maybe a friend of yours will have some kind of damn nanobots coursing through their bloodstream, who knows. Your going to see some things, that’s for sure.
I love you baby, thanks for coming around here.
19 jancartier | 15 Apr 2008
@ Robert- gravity tugs and pulls upon our body parts. Disease it lays us low. Keep your poet’s heart cushioned in your soul. Keep it nurtured, exercised…so it beats out those lovely lovely lines. The ones that make us think, the ones that show us grit. I had to take another look. Needed a poetry fix. :)
Jan
20 Sharon | 20 Apr 2008
Awww, this totally made me smile. It really helps to laugh at ourselves over these vanity issues. And I thought I was the only one who struggled with that stuff–Doh! :-)
I try to remember this–to someone who loves us we are always beautiful, no matter what we think we look like.
21 Robert Bruce | 21 Apr 2008
Sharon - Thanks my friend. And, your smile should never be altered…
22 The Macer | 18 May 2008
Oh I hope I do! Just…Nanobots in her bloodstream. Yuck…And when that actually happens, I will think of this poem. :)
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