Metropolis was a 1927 Fritz Lang film
Superman also lived there.
George Reeves who played a TV superman
committed an impossible suicide.
And so on.
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When the oil company put on it’s evening lights
I thought, Metropolis again
industrial pre-Hitler germany
Before the first death began
industrialized death
how easy it is to say
one works in a factory–
one does not make policy
one does one’s job, questions being for philosophers
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Rotwang was the created robot
robots are not good, not evil
they act as ordered
the perfect soldier, the perfect civil servant
the perfect administrator
and how does one tell
when the first metal appears on the arm
the first bolts dawn on the neck
if noone else seems to think it strange……..
…………………………..
and yet the lights were beautiful
another way of saying christmas, one supposes
as long as there are lights on christmas trees
the world must be right
were there trees in Berlin
does Santa Claus glide over the Potomac
and when crosses burn, isn’t that christmas, too
a time to remember the sick and homeless
those with AIDS, those without much life to live
remember them, then
keep all the thems happy
for a while
(over)
Growing up
I remember a black and white superman
on my Tee Vee screen
I don’t think I ever believed in him
but he was okay
but once I discovered Batman,
someone I could of been………
Batman was the rolling stones to me
superman the beatles
the times are not for trusting now
and have not been for some great time
there has not been some great time
for a long time now
perhaps it’s aging
seeing everything as heading into the abysss
into the factories
that have no exits
…………………………………………..
when the concerts start again”
I’ll pick up threads of my humanity
cut some, repair some
put others away
with my batman albums my rolling stone comic books
my lou reed figurines
why can’t i capitalize cultural ikons anymore
what did i see that night anyhow
………………………………..
it reminded one of the movie
silent, 1927, the workers living underground
natural in their sheepness
but this was 1990
this is not a valid comparison
the logic is soplistic
the reasoning sophomoric
the emotions are adolescent, at best
this is only a job
stringing lights on fuel tanks
nothing at all to do with chambers of gas
Bob Small sometime in 1990
robertthesmall 