Plywood panels on a boarded up building in Portsmouth
Appalachian Elegy
I feel like I am standing on a ledge,
Genetically
speaking, of the world,
Where they are
close to the razor’s edge—
About to be evolutionarily
hurled
Headlong from their
enervated station,
Disqualified for
not holding up their end
Of globalized digitalization.
With the Chinese
coming round the bend,
The signs of
decline are everywhere—
In the physiognomy,
stare, and speech,
In the particulate
matter in the air,
In their infernal tendency
to preach.
And my only contribution
is going to be
This pathetic
attempt at an elegy.
Robert Forrey,
2011
