Notes On A Billboard
The billboards are atwitter,
Shaking in the wind
As if they had Parkinson's—
Colorful pictures placate
Passing drivers, comfortable
In their leather, reclining seats
To God knows where—
Who knows where God is?
He's advertised right there,
Up in the sky
Above a church
With valet parking and high-definition
Televisions side-scrolling Biblical slogans:
What would Jesus do?
Come and find out, we'll tell you
(Because a dead man can't
And you can't tell yourself
The billboards glitter
Like the sea-washed, sand-polished
Treasures that erode over time—
They peel at the edges,
Revealing what was loved yesterday,
But disappearing now in the fade
Of saturated sun-light.
We're letting the American dream
Soak in appropriated yellow,
But its transfarred cloud data
Still congeals in the shadow of pop culture
(Until we cover it up again
OR
TEAR IT
FROM THE
WALL
ALLOWING FOR EMPTY SPACE,
A waste of space,
A waste of time,
A distraction that diverts the attention
Of autopiloting drivers
Into a puddle of images—
(Hydroplaning
On misinformation, sliding
Into the light-post
Where the electricity jolts into their legs,
So they walk away from
Where they walk into
Walking backwards in forward absentia
Saudering the plaster megalomania
Of hedonism and luxury.
God bless the both of me.
That you provide for me.
poem by Tim Stensloff
Added by Poetry Lover
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