the simple strawmen

[milo]

the simple strawmen

we are the simple strawmen
mannequins, the common-common,
the substitute for sweet,
the answer

and yet your middle fattens
and you get cancer 
wanting alabaster

walmart grecian statues made of plaster
hollow. Hollow. hollow -
spill your saccharine and follow

the glow, the daytime doctor charmer
take your pills
and wish for somewhere warmer

sleep.  and if your sleep is haunting
rorschach paper crows then tear them
don't. dress in cast-off clothes and scare them

oh simple-simple 
how you fear one thought will break us
or morning light unmake us.

[wasellajam]

Hi, milo, I'm pretty lost here, just can't get it. Some notes on my read:

the simple strawmen

we are the simple strawmen
mannequins, the common-common,
the substitute for sweet,
the answer
So the N plus one or many, everyday shams. No idea about "the answer"

and yet your middle fattens
and you get cancer 
wanting alabaster

walmart grecian statues made of plaster
hollow. Hollow. hollow -
spill your saccharine and follow
Past just empty, rotten. And suburban.

the glow, the daytime doctor charmer
take your pills
and wish for somewhere warmer
No idea what this is about except the somewhere warmer discontent or chill

sleep.  and if your sleep is haunting
rorschach paper crows then tear them
don't. dress in cast-off clothes and scare them
No idea and can't make sense of "tear them don't."

oh simple-simple 
how you fear one thought will break us
or morning light unmake us.
Here's the poem that makes me keep coming back to try and get the rest, lovely.

I feel like there are clues here I just can't get, even common/hollow/simple. My confusion is keeping me from enjoying any nuances that the poem may hold. I hope someone else can be of more help.
Thanks for posting it, I enjoyed trying. Good morning!

[busker]

the simple strawmen

we are the simple strawmen
mannequins, the common-common,
the substitute for sweet,
the answer

and yet your middle fattens
and you get cancer … it’s clever till this point 
wanting alabaster

walmart grecian statues made of plaster … the enjambment is also clever, but a little cute 
hollow. Hollow. hollow -
spill your saccharine and follow

the glow, the daytime doctor charmer
take your pills
and wish for somewhere warmer … I think having a punctuation mark here will help. All at once, the poem is losing its clarity and becoming a ramble

sleep.  and if your sleep is haunting
rorschach paper crows then tear them
don't. dress in cast-off clothes and scare them … I’m struggling to follow the line here 

oh simple-simple 
how you fear one thought will break us
or morning light unmake us. … lovely ending 

The simple straw men are not thinking of eyes they dare not meet in death’s dream kingdom, but only of wintering somewhere warmer. 
One problem is that the poetic allusion is over used. 
It’s a clever poem, but lacks the one jaw dropping line. The last one comes close.

[milo]

Hi, milo, I'm pretty lost here, just can't get it. Some notes on my read:

the simple strawmen

we are the simple strawmen
mannequins, the common-common,
the substitute for sweet,
the answer
So the N plus one or many, everyday shams. No idea about "the answer"

So, the thought of the piece is kind of a "modernity has failed us" and it is kind of a list and indictment of easy-way-out type solutions.  The answer is the sub in for those. So, yes - shams.  But the shams we all accept as the answer to all of our problems that just leave us empty.

and yet your middle fattens
and you get cancer 
wanting alabaster

walmart grecian statues made of plaster
hollow. Hollow. hollow -
spill your saccharine and follow
Past just empty, rotten. And suburban.

exactly.  Like - people looking for art, beauty, culture in cheap knockoffs

the glow, the daytime doctor charmer
take your pills
and wish for somewhere warmer
No idea what this is about except the somewhere warmer discontent or chill

I was hoping you would get the "take your pills and wish for somewhere warmer" line because it is so New Jersey.  Think Florida.  The first line probably feels dated because it is a soap opera reference but I felt ok with it because it could be tiktok or youtube or whatever.

sleep.  and if your sleep is haunting
rorschach paper crows then tear them
don't. dress in cast-off clothes and scare them
No idea and can't make sense of "tear them don't."

oh simple-simple 
how you fear one thought will break us
or morning light unmake us.
Here's the poem that makes me keep coming back to try and get the rest, lovely.

I feel like there are clues here I just can't get, even common/hollow/simple. My confusion is keeping me from enjoying any nuances that the poem may hold. I hope someone else can be of more help.
Thanks for posting it, I enjoyed trying. Good morning!

[/quote]
Thank you for reading and commenting.

Good morning

---

the simple strawmen

we are the simple strawmen
mannequins, the common-common,
the substitute for sweet,
the answer

and yet your middle fattens
and you get cancer … it’s clever till this point 
wanting alabaster

walmart grecian statues made of plaster … the enjambment is also clever, but a little cute 
hollow. Hollow. hollow -
spill your saccharine and follow

the glow, the daytime doctor charmer
take your pills
and wish for somewhere warmer … I think having a punctuation mark here will help. All at once, the poem is losing its clarity and becoming a ramble

sleep.  and if your sleep is haunting
rorschach paper crows then tear them
don't. dress in cast-off clothes and scare them … I’m struggling to follow the line here 

well, is there anything you know of that dresses in castoff clothes and scares crows?

oh simple-simple 
how you fear one thought will break us
or morning light unmake us. … lovely ending 

The simple straw men are not thinking of eyes they dare not meet in death’s dream kingdom, but only of wintering somewhere warmer. 
One problem is that the poetic allusion is over used. 
It’s a clever poem, but lacks the one jaw dropping line. The last one comes close.

I will take clever.  If there is more than one allusion here than I may have missed it as well so it is probably accidental.

Thanks for reading and commenting