Stealthy as hieroglyphters in moccasins,
we spy pared vocabulary that attends
the subjection of literature and silents
to screens of talking pictures.
Talking pictures give walmart-y 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 base seller’s stealth.
Dave Read