Stealthy as hieroglyphters in moccasins,
we spy pared vocabulary that attends
submission of literature and silent movies
to screens of talking pictures.
Talking pictures give walmarty places
the same esteem relict religions gave
cathedrals, temples, and mosques
to people used to vicarious existence.
Talking pictures also sell the glory
of knighthoods won through spear-tipped
trips across sand-domed oil fields
far away from the safety of home.
Now, pair the paring of vocabulary with
the hunt for weapons of moist inflection
craved by collage artists and college kids,
then mull the stealth of your seller’s sins.
Dave Read