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| Detail from Georges Méliès, Man in The Moon, 1902 |
Once, my kind were mages.
We followed the star,
read omens of a black moon,
divined, sought godhead
in the timeless abyss –
now we are bred
without questions.
Space is the frontier
of the trillionaire techbots
and we, their slaves of input,
must keep minds blank
while guileless engines
pick apart the theory
of relativity.
An astronomical poem in 55 words for Physics with Bjorn in The Imaginary Garden. Another chapter in my Dystopia series.
If anyone would like to link up a Flash 55, please do so in the comments below, and have a Kick-Ass Weekend.
It first reminded me of this particular tale from I, Robot, but your shift and narration here goes ahead of the rudimentary wonderment and futuristic legends of the 20th century.
ReplyDeleteSpace is the frontier with more and more investment and when at once it is baffling to come to know about the kind of new discoveries today, it is also rather difficult to define our own submission to these universal truths which have a tendency to change and reformulate over time through the works of those "guileless engines". "must keep minds blank" is a dangerous proposition in this evolution of sorts.
Wonderful writing, Kerry.
Thank you for your in-depth reading, HA. It gratifies me to know that a few words, such as these, may give rise to interesting links to the 'real' world. Individuality itself is at risk, I believe, in the very near future, as we increasingly become mere tools of those who really run the world as a big business.
DeleteI really loves the chill this gave me... the way the magis turned to slaves, the frontiers and discovery is for exploitation nor exploration, and only for the androids who are our masters...
ReplyDeleteBTW my poem this week was a 55 https://brudberg.me/2018/09/29/space-force-construction/
Deletebut that one you have already read.
Thanks, Bjorn. I loved that your prompt allowed me to continue exploring this dystopian world.
DeleteFirst, I adore that image from the old silent film! What a notion, that the vastness of space and all it may contain would already belong only to "trillionaire techbots." I would argue that keeping our mind NOT blank is the best weapon against this. And that, I suppose, is why we write.
ReplyDeleteMy 55:
ReplyDeletehttp://fireblossom-wordgarden.blogspot.com/2018/09/squirrel-people.html
You had me at the first line - from mages to slaves. The best defense is a mind full of thoughts and wonder. The guileless engines...is their innocence real or feigned?
ReplyDeleteAnd your dystopian adventure series continues...it fit the theme perfectly. I find it fascinating!
ReplyDeleteWith the amount of speculative fiction based in the future I am sure there will be someone stupid enough to think living on a dead planet is better that the beautiful one we have now which we are determined to trash.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the machines dream us, the mystery darkness which fathered them -- what equation will explain the one to the other? Tight as a bullet and fired exactly so. Poor moon. Poorer us , in the thrum and thrall of the server which ideates us all. What a collection of dystopian 55s this will be. Love the pic.
ReplyDeleteI like to fire my barrage one bullet at a time. Not sure how long these will last, but thanks, B.
DeleteThis is so good and so deep and true, Kerry. I agree with Fireblossom, keeping our minds sharp and aware the best defense, painful as that is. Easier for the unaware, these days.
ReplyDeletei'm boggled by those who insist the earth is flat, or that there are no man-made satellites, and that the moon landing never happened.
ReplyDelete