Monday, September 22, 2014

A Kindle Burned (Winter Night for Jeff Bezos)


- after Boris Pasternak

It sold and sold, the whole world over,
Sales swept the world from end to end.
A Kindle burned on the table;
A Kindle burned.

As the spineless e-reader spun
Around a wireless window display
Even non-readers swarmed
To beat against the myth of fair play

The paradigm ruptured Guttenberg’s
Old designs made of ink on paper.
A Kindle burned on the table;
A Kindle burned.

DRM’s shadow fell
Upon blighted booksellers:
Shadows of anti-trust, of crossed-lines,
Of an empire’s remote USB.

Two hardbacks fell to the floor
And thudded.
A Kindle on a nightstand shed e-ink
Tears upon that mess.

Publishers vanished within
The hoary market place.
A Kindle burned on the table;
A Kindle burned.

Conscience sputtered without shame
And the margins that were temptation
Unfolded a monopoly that cast
A cruciform shadow.

It swindled and sold, the whole world over,
Sales swept the world from end to end.
A Kindle burned on the table;
A Kindle burned.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice.