(CJA has previously published prose and photography in the Springs, now he successfully adds poetry to his site canon–LA)
only the vain
and who isn’t in this country?
can feel the strain
of trying to stay the same
sweat rolling down my brain
all the while lines appear
caked up thick!
in a funeral parlor’s pit
staying fit, I should trade it for a crucifix
exercise schedules
and dietary rituals
spread on low-carb bread
the gym and the road, to cheat
the old varicose veined hag of death
who appears by our bedside
the heartbeat’s timekeeper,
with a coroner’s stopwatch
destroying our sunshine
the temporal concubine
run five miles today
the flesh says, “Get slim, Sunny Jim”
still marked and measured for death
—I will fulfill your destiny yet!
with or without the benefit
of running shoes and exercise equipment
a Nike SWOOSH on your coffin lid?
Saragun Springs 
CJA
Love the way is builds to the question.
I am surrounded by grim joggers and snobby espresso frillies who hold up lines by forcing baristas to locate a negative calorie nut milk.
And I know something about the skiinies. They claim it is fitness–damn liars, it is vanity. Simple vanity.
I hope we see more of this side of your work soon!
Leila
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Hi Leila
Glad you like the poem!
“Grim joggers” that would have been great to add… “negative calorie nut milk!”That has a really nice ring, too!
Yes it’s more than fitness. It is the worship of self.
Thanks!
CJA (my alter ego)
PS: I’ll dig up another… Have a gaggle of them.
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Hiya CJA
Just yesterday I was at my local coffe shop (privately owned, I avoid Starbucks) got stuck behind a fitness coiple wating evrryone’s time asking about nutrient levels in syrup flavors. The girl working is a sweetheart, but I could see the anger glowing in her eyes.
Looking forward to seeing more. Excellent sense of wordplay.
Leila
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Hi Leila
People are so self centered–full of one lunacy to another. They really don’t care about the other person or persons’ time.
Thanks! I really appreciate it.
CJA
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oh dear. Shades of desperation. Loved the line about the varicose veins. dd
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Thanks Diane! I sort of lived this for awhile… The weights and the road are still calling, like “Danny Boy.” lol.
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CJA
I think there’s a puritanical aspect to all this, too. Lesser minds have been sold the notion that it’s a “sin” to not “take care” of the body like this. I can add that jogging endless miles on an exercise machine that is surrounded by various plastics which are off-gassing the whole time is probably not as healthy as they are led to believe by the corporations and people who are selling the gym memberships.
I’m fine with people who are natural runners. But the ones who are doing it because they fear death, are vain about their appearances and trying to look “perfect,” and have a puritanical sense that anything naughty must be avoided at all costs or they might receive slaps on the wrists from someone about it all – these people are not even ADULTS, though they appear to be adults on the surface and the numbers of their years make them officially old enough to be adults.
No, they are not adults, they are immature, undeveloped, grown CHILDREN in the bodies of adults. America has produced an entire race of grown children who are supposedly functioning adults but are in reality tools of the machine, figments of the system, the ones who are even now giving what’s left of their souls away to AI even as we speak, and doing it happily, eagerly, greedily, and with glee.
“Dear AI Companion, How can I look perfect for my friends (like Ken and Barbie), have only fun, and never die?” The advertisements tell them all of the above is possible. I wonder if AI would be honest enough to say, “YOU MUST DIE AND you will die one of these days and no one knows when – you could get hit by a bus at any moment so make your peace with your Maker now. Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust – you come from the void and will return there.”
This poem is a memento mori in a land that needs ’em.
DWB
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DWB
Outstanding commentary on this topic of vanity.
This is a fine essay on the human condition. Or the state of the human condition such as it is now. These hedonistic pursuits are loaded with Virtual Reality and AI.
AI is their God now.
Excellent and accurate description of these stunted people who are occupying the bodies of adults. Scary thoughts! They have very little impulse control. They are like children for sure. Dangerous full grown hairy children blown up with testosterone and estrogen and rage.
Plastic off-gassing is right! I wonder about microwaving leftovers seeing the red tint you can’t wash off the Tupperware. What invisible evil is transferred into the food? Were living in an electronic oil slick.
They think AI will cure them of their mortality with its vast and stolen intellect. They are “born to die” like the soldiers wrote on their helmets in Vietnam.
Thanks for your great comments!
CJA
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Christopher
For some reason this poem reminds me as well of what has officially been dubbed “The Mar-a-Lago Look” wherein women have a hundred thousand dollars worth of plastic surgery so they can all have the same fat lips, high cheekbones, and pulled-back eyelids which they think will make them popular. The outfit that goes with this look includes a visibly displayed cross necklace, the same hairstyle as Melania, and the exact same clothing styles which all the other women with the “Mar-a-Lago Look” are wearing.
The costume for the men is simply to dress up exactly like the Dear Leader. It’s a wonder some of these clowns don’t wear orange face paint as well. But perhaps even that would be too much – like all the Nazis wearing Charlie Chaplin mustaches.
D
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Hi Dale
What a sickening concept the“Mar-a-Lago Look.” Nothing short than idolatry.
The cross on their neck means nothing. They should wear it upside down because the Devil’s their father.
I can’t stand these plastic people! Once I see an actor go plastic I’m done with their ass. They’re no longer original.
We’re a lot closer to Nazi Germany than people think.
CJA
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…to any and all who think these screeds are just bitching and moaning; they have an official name: SOCIAL CRITICISM…
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A worthy pursuit!
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CJA
This poem also displays your abilities with the English Language to a high degree. Great lines, images, flow, tone, metaphors, vocabulary…
“The old varicose veined hag of death” sounds like Jack Kerouac or William S. Burroughs or Allen Ginsberg crossed with a Shakespeare sonnet.
Send us more poems! They go wonderfully well together with your prose and photos…
DWB
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DWB
Thanks I appreciate it!
I used to love fooling around with words–trying to make phrases.
I’ve got one I was working on earlier today. I’m going to hack around on it and send it to you and see what y’all think.
CJA
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DWB
Keep shouting! It is necessary to raise above the shriek of slogans bellowed by the Mechanized Morons. I think in “Catch” Heller perfectly described a person who has a large intellect yet no common sense as a dope. Cetainly applies to the oddly flinched faces of modern humanity.
Leila
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