The Perils of Globalization

Sehnsucht nach Stille - Longing for Silence 38,5 x 48,5 cm pastel by Karin Goeppert

THE PERILS OF GLOBALIZATION

I’ve read in the Wall Street Journal 

recently that ever increasing chunks of me

are being outsourced to a number of

service providers situated somewhere

in the Nile Delta. A suburb of Calcutta. Even a

cave in a Pakistani tribal area inhabited by

white-clad religious enthusiasts (to put it mildly)

is equipped with components taken from yours truly.

I was wondering about the sudden weight loss. If anyone

knows where missing parts (departments, entire divisions)

can be located please contact me ASAP. You can

find me at the game arcade “dining” on sloppy Joes.

Just step inside and give a holler. If there’s

no answer to my name, however, have the

decency to leave at once, remembering

I never existed anyway, and that you, under the spell

of rapacious, inexplicable appetite, will soon be

slumped in a corner, near a row of exploding  

video games, eating a chili-dog, licking your fingers, knowing

that you’re soon going to need a shot of Fernet-Branca

or some baking powder in water, anything to ease that burning

overstuffed feeling. That burden of self. Happens every time.