National Poetry Month: Aralee Strange

"feature creep"                            
(aralee strange)



smart phone notebook nubile mobile
laptop iPad Blu-Ray teevee
Blackberries you cannot eat
iPods you cannot plant
Nanos you can see with naked eye
world's gone wireless and free hey!
we're drowning in words with nothing
whatever to say

and by the way? the grey men
the ones pulling the strings
the ones you'll never see on CNN?
don't give a good goddamn what you
post petition boycott censor or condemn
you are a Consumer
you are one among Billions
predictable manageable expendable You
are the Bottom Line

tell you what Intel's processing
24/7 your little grey cells
sign up log in check out
uploading your data
codifying your demographic
selling you out

watch how it goes
goes with the flow
flows fast and crude
no time for reflection
here we go hi ho! hi ho!
busy busy busy with the mind-
dead industry of the doomed
a raging money machine
running on empty

what to do what to do

the heart knows holy's
the same as it ever was
and thus you pray
however you do
and lo & behold!
you get what you love
and if you are lucky
not much frightens you
and if you are listening
a small voice is telling you

dig in deep
keep your tools sharp
your friends close
and your feet on the ground
keep your fences mended
play your cards close to the vest
learn to like cold turkey

Originally from Birmingham, ARALEE STRANGE is a performer, poet, and literary libertine who has entertained audiences in many scenes -- and created a few literary scenes of her own from New York City to Athens, Georgia. One recent appreciation of Strange's undeniable energy calls it "chiropractics for the soul" -- the lightning bolt on her cheek is emblematic of her creative electricity: ""The pagan version of one of those saints that are supposed to protect true believers." She is the author of dr. pain on main, a play commissioned/produced by Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Etta Stone: A Film for Radio, which aired on National Public Radio. Strange also wrote, directed and edited This Train (2001) starring Soupy Sales. Her current project is Word of Mouth, a monthly poetry whirlygig held in Athens, Georgia, encouraging carpenters, academics, anarchists and the reticent to get up onstage, spill their drinks, and open a creative vein.