NaPM April 6, 2018

[Todd]

Rules: Write a poem for national poetry month on the topic or form described. Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. The goal is to, at the end of the month have written 30 poems for National Poetry Month.


Topic 6: Write a poem inspired by the perspective of anthropologists from one thousand years in the future trying to make sense of something we routinely do today.
Form : any
Line requirements: 8 lines or more

Questions?

[Knot]

C of E


It is astonishing.
I'm sure you agree.
To have expended all that
energy, industry, emotion
and self upon an endeavour
that was doomed
from it's very beginnings.
And, more remarkable still,
to have persisted
when the problem was clear,
almost from the outset.

In our next lesson,
we will examine the revolution
in Anthropology that followed
the discovery of a meaningful
Concept of Evidence
(and how it all but destroyed
what was then called Archaeology).

[RiverNotch]

dildo 3018

witness how the ancients
returned to roman practice
by keeping such long-lasting charms
in their bedside drawers.
what wonders man's created
for his heathen worship!

[Todd]

The Great Walmart of Giza Preserved from the Catastrophe
 
We believe this to be a religious site,
a tomb, but without the embalming
techniques of their ancestors.
There is no evidence of burial. Plastic gods
are posed in ceremonial clothes. There are priestly
vestments matching the gods so the whole tribe
can strut in imitation. Provocative poses
suggest fertility and mating rituals. There is a crèche
for the care of infants. This may be more
temple than tomb—a place for the whole
community to worship.

[busker]

The Great Walmart of Giza Preserved from the Catastrophe
 
We believe this to be a religious site,
a tomb, but without the embalming
techniques of their ancestors.
There is no evidence of burial. Plastic gods
are posed in ceremonial clothes. There are priestly
vestments matching the gods so the whole tribe
can strut in imitation. Provocative poses
suggest fertility and mating rituals. There is a crèche
for the care of infants. This may be more
temple than tomb—a place for the whole
community to worship.

Back from a long day at the Necropolis and I see this!

[vagabond]

remnants of anthropology


calm down.
we don´t know enough of their motives
before the great war.
-
but these ruins of silicium panels
date back to the 20th century.
they knew how to use wind,
and now this.
they had figured out problems,
but still.
-
listen, anger just increases
the energy expense. you can´t afford that,
remember the latest plan.
we should honor the ancestors,
clever enough to survive.
-
you know what, you´re right,
no use in attempting to figure out why
and i´m fed up with planning ahead.
we know the road.
40 generations is not a long time.
we lost this slow race
of decay.

[just mercedes]

Opening address to the Greenland Anthropological Institute, SE 1018


A group of undergraduate students from InuitU will present
their claim to have uncovered evidence of mass religious rites
in CE 2020, on what was mainland US. They have excavated
a vast underground cathedral-like structure near an old
city centre. The numerous bodies, frozen in the moment
of the Singularity Event, were all in attitudes of prayer,
heads bent in reverence over the icons they still carried.

Those icons have been subject to further specialized study.
Two subgroups, Nokia, and Motorola, have been identified.

Another study, currently undergoing peer review,
hopes to demonstrate a connection between these icons
and the previously chartered and puzzling genetic changes
to the human thumb, noted over the short period between
CE circa 1980 and the SE.

[Richard]

Excerpts From the Future

Hallmark was that era's greatest writer,
with millions of pieces,
covering a range of emotions,
some that still exist
and others humans have evolved beyond.
Love is a recurring theme,
which is the main reason for Hallmark's success...

All research into Hallmark's true identity
has been inconclusive.
Some postulate that it was a group of writers
because such genius seems unlikely
to have one source.
Others believe it was a famous leader from the period,
perhaps the great builder, Donald Trump,
or the impeccable Bill Clinton...

Recently, another poem was found by Hallmark,
dealing with something called Mother's Day.
I theorize this to be old dialect
for Mondays...

[dukealien]

Late Pre-Eidetic: Yellow Layer


Items in this case were found
in an early twenty-first
century collective midden
called a “landfill.”
Note their leaves’ thinness
and distinctive yellow color,
diagnostic of uppermost strata
from pre-eidetic culture.

Magnified image of one line
shows “name,” “address” and
“telephone number.”  First is
a form of entity-identifier,
second a physical location, and last
a communication-access thread
disambiguation.  In other words,
a physical store of truenames.

(Patrons are reminded
that all these indices are expired
by one thousand years.)

Though shocking, such displays
were ubiquitous in pre-eidetic times
and form almost one-quarter
of an average midden’s contents
by weight.  Their use is difficult
to fathom, though some advance
theories of mutual deterrence.

Next case, a rare find.
This metal tool was called a “pistol.”
It is ingeniously designed to project
metallic objects to short distances
repeatedly.  Few entered middens.
Archaeologists theorize
it was a weapon meant to injure
persons in close proximity,
though why this should be necessary
given ubiquitous stores of truenames
is problematic.

These theorists claim
before humankind inhabited
panoptic-eidetic space,
it would have been impossible
to simply deathwish an unfriend
whose truename was known.
Research on this matter
continues.

[Leanne]

What Lingers

Consider the iconography
of the butterfly: this mythological creature 
captured the imagination of the ancients, particularly
women, for whom it clearly had an association
with breast and buttock. In ritual scar-and-ink
we see its placement on intimate sections of skin,
which seems indicative of participation in the 
Victorian Mysteries. These secret ceremonies
pervaded the underground of the Caucasogallic 
civilisations in the late 2nd century BTA, 
characterised by robes of petrochemical derivative
demonstrating awareness of the shortage of this 
resource by using only small amounts of the fabric,
strategically placed to draw attention to regions
of the body the zealots deemed sacred. 

Why the butterfly?  It is known that the High Priestess
of the Mysteries was referred to as a Supermodel; 
related texts imply that the prefix super denotes 
an ability to fly*.  Devotees would have viewed themselves
as transcendent, not connected to the prosaic 
and practical, with such things being beneath them.
In legend, the butterfly is said to have transformed
from worm to bird: the prey becoming the predator.
It is probable that the secret rituals included a hunting
ceremony of some kind, probably with spears; thus,
in an era believed to have been dominantly patriarchal, 
the women would assert themselves. Conflicting evidence
suggests, however, that in many cases the Mysteries were
actually viewed by any number of men, from one to 
millions.

*Forensic testing carried out on fossilised remains of 
over a dozen Supermodels shows an odd honeycombing
of the bones, elongation of the limbs and very little 
musculature. Although it is unlikely that true flight was achieved
by these priestesses, archaeologists are unable to rule out 
the possibility of short glides with some mechanical assistance.
Testing also indicates high levels of Erythroxylum coca, a high-
altitude plant which may indicate that these Supermodels 
originated from a single source, possibly in modern-day 
Colombantrumpador. The mountainous atmosphere 
of this region would also explain the uniform enlargement 
of the nasal passages and increased chest size.

[CRNDLSM]

As magma bubbles and molds
Fresh layers of earth 
dirt settles from the sky
Just like oceans to vapor.

Fresh layers of earth
Endlessly cycle beyond life
Just like oceans to vapor.
The carbon in our bones

Endlessly cycle beyond life
Devoured, burned to dust
The carbon in our bones
Erased from history.

Devoured, burned to dust
Nothing left to study
Erased from history
Entire civilizations gone

Nothing left to study 
No books, no dvds, no phones
Entire civilizations gone
As magma bubbles and molds

[Keith]

History class 3018 (anthropologists significant finds)


The Nuclear winter of 2019,
also referred to in your hollerdesk
as the Long Cold Trump,
gave rise to the Californian ice sheet,
a 26 mile glacier caused by the instantaneous
freezing of the ocean as it collided
with air temperatures, reported by
a man called Kelvin Nutsov to be -273 deg C.

If you look at reference ST. 0nER and set the hollerdesk
display mode to walk around.
You can clearly see image of a
20 year old male trapped in the ice,
all his features are perfectly preserved,
even his long blond hair,
almost as though he is here with us today.

Looking more closely
you can see both hands are raised above his head
with the index fingers of both hands fully extended
in some form of salute to the advancing tsunami.
The hemp patterns on the
short mid-rift over-garment
is believed to be ink printed
and symbolises material know
to have been used in the production of rope
again this fits with theme
of costal work such a fishing.

His footwear is basic and primitive
only held between the first two toes
and made from extract of the Hevea brasiliensis
it is widely thought that these
would be very difficult to walk in.

The most curious find however,
was in his mouth
a clay pipe that dates back
to a much earlier age,
the ST.0nER could have been carrying it to symbolise peace
and given the unrest of those time.
it would be understandable artefact to have.
I believe the labs are still analysing
the tiny crystals found inside the pipe.

[cupidpurple]

C of E


It is astonishing.
I'm sure you agree.
To have expended all that
energy, industry, emotion
and self upon an endeavour
that was doomed
from it's very beginnings.
And, more remarkable still,
to have persisted
when the problem was clear,
almost from the outset.

In our next lesson,
we will examine the revolution
in Anthropology that followed
the discovery of a meaningful
Concept of Evidence
(and how it all but destroyed
what was then called Archaeology).

Hey, wow I just read this and thought it was great!!! .