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But Didn’t Descartes Say..?

Posted by Doeslittle on March 17, 2008 - 20:16

This is how I think of them:
As men propped up against fading Doric columns
Elaborately crowned in Chelsea blue,
Their collars a little too stiff and tight,
They are tugging at them in tic twitches
To conceal the choking. Glib, in fact, smirking,
Clutching their matching satchels
Which contain their insurmountable erudition
And contrived ennui, they speak in words
No one else can understand, fearing the anathema
Of smallness. They are also feigning comprehension
Of one another and their nonsensical gibberish,
Blather littered with literary and philosophical
Name-dropping, Oscar Wilde, Wittgenstein,
“Sartre said to me ‘It’s up to you’ ” or
“I find Kafka a little off-putting over breakfast”,
When they speak they sound like Winston Churchill
Or donkeys braying, they are lambasting all things,
They are casting eyes, blinking judgements
Like incisions, but barely hiding the deads
And ends of their ball - chain lives,
They stand on ramparts, not quite certain
If they are conquering or defending,
They are axes buried deep in the log pile.

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Comments

LawOfTheOne | March 17, 2008 - 21:26

I liked this very much.

"I find kafka off-putting over breakfast" was so funny and, well, true.

The end was particularly good. Why did you go for all the battle imagery?

Doeslittle | March 17, 2008 - 21:56

Thanks...Erm battle imagery - the competition with each other as well as their sense of conquering those they deem less intellectual than themselves and their own demon - that they are secretly afraid of their own stupidity so go to lengths to appear clever. Have I been suitably confusing in explaining?

mykle | March 18, 2008 - 00:36

Maybe they are just playing the game…
speaking their own jargon, reflecting each others prejudices, trying to be all the things that they think they should be - but secretly acknowledge that they aren’t – never realizing that nobody is! (thank goodness).

It’s worth bearing in mind that many of these guys know that the economy is in recession and that a lot of them will be out of a job next week or next month… no wonder they have tics and grimaces masquerading as smiles!

LawOfTheOne | March 18, 2008 - 01:29

Ah I see. Guess it makes sense, man gone by fought with the axes and in castles, these "men" fight with words and learned off phrases.

At least they're not their own words, like this poem! :)