PEGI EYERS
There is something sinister about women who break through the glass ceiling in business and industry, only to have a major role in destroying the world. Why are we celebrating their "achievements" in liberation and equality when these "so-called" successful women embrace the patriarchal goals of endless growth and the resource extraction that is causing massive change and climate disaster? Why is more value being placed on gender equality than the health of the planet? Women as active agents of ecocide defy the basic matriarchal principles of feminine regeneration and care, and hardly deserve our applause or support. My poem "Automaton" is a call-out on one of the key tenets of modern feminism - that any critique of our "sisters" will bring the whole movement down. I don't know about you, but I refuse to uplift or respect women for all the wrong reasons.
Automaton
1. An independent and complex machine,
2. a machine that contains its own power source and can perform a complicated series of actions, including
responses to external stimuli,
3. a new form of narcissistic human employed by the
fossil fuel industry.
1. An independent and complex machine,
2. a machine that contains its own power source and can perform a complicated series of actions, including
responses to external stimuli,
3. a new form of narcissistic human employed by the
fossil fuel industry.
[1]
What human is this?
Automaton
Calculating, you slink on the plane
You - Diva of the universe
Sweet face of hegemony
Cap of blond hair swinging
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
The continents of Turtle Island
A jagged backdrop
For your privileged vacuity
Swallowing mountains and prairie
Easy does it!
You little flirt
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your white flamboyance
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[2]
What human is this?
Automaton
Accumulating assets through time & space
You have the right
The riddled sky is yours
Crossing a world darker than night
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
Over deadened landscapes
Your free-for-all glamour
Flowing oil into the bank
Your cash is your joy
Clack clack clack
Your bloody high heels
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your white narcissism
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[3]
What human is this?
Automaton
Planes lined up for the fall
Nothing grows nothing lives
You wave to the concrete people
Another dead zone airport
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
Short hours pass
Your charmed childhood
Your management style
Hundreds of miles of money
You - scrambling for more
You heartless bitch
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your white splendor
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[4]
What human is this?
Automaton
Life is great in Alberta
The luxury retreat cabin
That damned dead cougar
Sneaky corpse
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
Don’t walk in the forest
Watch out for bears
You - monologue no dialogue
And good riddance to the garden
Buy stock on a whim
Black heart black soul
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your white privilege
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[5]
What human is this?
Automaton
The tar sands your achievement
Pipelines and computer code
Take it out of the ground
Why let Mother Earth live?
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
See it from the air
Surrounded by bountiful forest
A natural landform
On borrowed time
Bitumen just sitting there
Let’s talk defense
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your beloved Empire
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[6]
What human is this?
Automaton
Elevator to the penthouse suite
You - posed under tower windows
Curtains of ecosystems now extinct
Was it worth it?
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
Millions of years in each drop
Drops of peignoir in your glass
No end in sight - impact of greed
Sacrifice of Earth Community
On the altar of Miss Kapital
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
What human sees this?
What human feels this?
What human knows this?
Automaton
What human is this?
Automaton
Calculating, you slink on the plane
You - Diva of the universe
Sweet face of hegemony
Cap of blond hair swinging
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
The continents of Turtle Island
A jagged backdrop
For your privileged vacuity
Swallowing mountains and prairie
Easy does it!
You little flirt
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your white flamboyance
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[2]
What human is this?
Automaton
Accumulating assets through time & space
You have the right
The riddled sky is yours
Crossing a world darker than night
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
Over deadened landscapes
Your free-for-all glamour
Flowing oil into the bank
Your cash is your joy
Clack clack clack
Your bloody high heels
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your white narcissism
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[3]
What human is this?
Automaton
Planes lined up for the fall
Nothing grows nothing lives
You wave to the concrete people
Another dead zone airport
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
Short hours pass
Your charmed childhood
Your management style
Hundreds of miles of money
You - scrambling for more
You heartless bitch
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your white splendor
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[4]
What human is this?
Automaton
Life is great in Alberta
The luxury retreat cabin
That damned dead cougar
Sneaky corpse
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
Don’t walk in the forest
Watch out for bears
You - monologue no dialogue
And good riddance to the garden
Buy stock on a whim
Black heart black soul
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your white privilege
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[5]
What human is this?
Automaton
The tar sands your achievement
Pipelines and computer code
Take it out of the ground
Why let Mother Earth live?
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
See it from the air
Surrounded by bountiful forest
A natural landform
On borrowed time
Bitumen just sitting there
Let’s talk defense
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
Your beloved Empire
Covering up that lifeless hollow soul-bone you hold inside
[6]
What human is this?
Automaton
Elevator to the penthouse suite
You - posed under tower windows
Curtains of ecosystems now extinct
Was it worth it?
Non-stop talking
- Laughing -
Millions of years in each drop
Drops of peignoir in your glass
No end in sight - impact of greed
Sacrifice of Earth Community
On the altar of Miss Kapital
Look at me! Look at me! Listen to me!
What human sees this?
What human feels this?
What human knows this?
Automaton
"Miss Kapital" digital art by Pegi Eyers
| Pegi Eyers is the author of "Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community," an award-winning book that explores strategies for intercultural competency, healing our relationships with Turtle Island First Nations, uncolonization, recovering an ecocentric worldview, rewilding, creating a sustainable future and reclaiming peaceful co-existence in Earth Community. Available from Stone Circle Press or Amazon. |
