should there be no alarm?

should there be no shout?

should there be no alarm?

has darkness become light

and light become harm?

 

when the bearers of the light

see nothing

and the messengers have forgotten

even the very message they send

when darkness is the light within

and without there is dark indeed

 

and in the market place

they call for a song

and the minstrels sing

what their ears want to hear

the market place of the gathering

of those who call themselves holy

and leaders of the blind

 

who themselves see no evil afoot

who see no need to stamp it out

who see no cause for alarm

who see no need to raise the shout

 

but they remain not silent

there is indeed a cry

 

in the sanctuary

the cry of a baby

demanding milk

crying for comfort

 

and the cry for comfort

is not for those in anguish

or for those lost

nor for those in need

or for the desperate and the dispossessed

nor for those with nothing

but the cry is from those who are in abundance

who possess all things

and who need no thing

except comfort itself

and who comfort themselves

in need alone

 

the market speaks

and the prophets listen

those called to give

consume

and the name inscribed on their forehead reads

“consumer”

and on their hands it is written

“more”

 

… and of their leader whose feet were dusty

and whose head owned no pillow

who had no place to rest his weary body

and no blanket but the stars

 

of this leader we still hear much

but not all

not even most

not even half

 

and the words we hear

are many words

not hallowed words

but hollowed words

words filled with emptiness

overrunning with empty promises

pretty words

hollow words

vain sonnets

odes to the consumer

love songs to the love sick

for those sick in love

in love with sick

odes to themselves

by the people

of the people

for the people

 

and the market cries out

and the prophets fear

and they fill the air with empty words

that itching ears love to hear

 

sick words

sick love

love sick

 

and this word is exalted

even above the name of the Lord God himself

 

 

can’t they at least let us totally lose our dignity in a dignified manner without stooping to this depth?

I logged on to my facebook profile last night and it sort of popped out at me even though I have mostly tried (and succeeded) to blot out a vast majority of those intruding little parasitic media viruses that brazenly seek to pollute my visual field everywhere I look these days. Perhaps I was just tired but this one got through even my cynical, skeptical defense systems.

It was under the nauseating little sub-heading of “Health Travel Tourism” which might have attracted my attention because it conveys the same oxymoronic logic as “Military Intelligence” – well, at least to my mind it does.

The pitch went like this:

“Receive expert medical treatment and make your recovery in the beautiful Garden Route of South Africa”

I must confess that I had to look twice and still then I simply had to also click on the link just to make sure it wasn’t simply a joke. Seriously, this is actually a genuine advertisement, I kid you not!

But not only that… the covering picture graphics shot looks a Hollywood ER series poster.

My first thought was, …. “are they serious?”  … and indeed they are.

I must admit that I had never thought of planning my annual heart attack or surgical procedure to coincide with a holiday trip to the coast. I must also say that I can’t think of anyone I know who does actually plan their major sicknesses and surgical procedures like this … (but then I am a musician……)

Ok, my brain is also not your normal soft-corn, cauliflower look-a-like Farmers Weekly centerfold pin-up, but this immediately reminded me of the old Sci-Fi movie “Soylent Green” where in order to alleviate the global food shortage people would be lured into ‘electing’ to be “euthanised” in luxurious settings with the bonus of seeing the last remaining colour movie reels of the long lost natural beauty of the world on big screen just prior to being ‘put under.’ Their bodies were then harvested and turned into protein feed for human consumption. Sort of like the original “Stepford Wives” – only this time with stethoscopes.

Apart from the usual medical services offered there is also: The organizing and booking of outings and visits to tourist attractions and visits to the beach in the area, including rides in their exclusive beach wheelchair in order to aid in rest and recuperation. … er, ok … and: Assisting family,  friends and next of kin with administrational duties, shopping, banking, running errands, rental of mobile phones etc. … But hang on, if I were to plan my next heart attack surely I’d also have the administrative fortitude to take my own barrage of cell phones along? … and if I was family, friend or next of kin to the suffering and/or convalescing patient I cannot think I’d want to focus on outings to tourist attractions and visits to the beach … er, … even I would think that would be perhaps just slightly a bit,  .. er … tacky.

I know we have let ourselves slide radically and we really do fit the “consumer” label snugly, but isn’t this a bit much, even for us? I mean, what is this? What are they now trying to sell us? Is this some new sort of a “Disease Boutique” idea?  Are they now trying to make medical trauma and chronic illness a luxury affair? Are we next going to see ads that say, “Die Like the Stars” – “Perish in Pleasure” or “Decay Deliciously.”

Us faithful consumers have been all but stripped, exposed and undignified for over a century now. Isn’t it enough? Can’t they at least let us totally lose our dignity in a dignified manner without stooping to this depth?

Maybe I’ve said too much already? What do you think?