“By its regression to magic under late capitalism, thought is assimilated to late capitalist forms.”
–– Theodor Adorno, 1947
mall witch blonde with a finger green
from an oxidized pentagram
ring – talking about the boxes
she’s let the stars put her into
talking salad and lunching1
the patina of cool just that — weak
as the green fingers at a Party City
in October, nothing verdant
only plastic
sheathes
(a commodity layer
on top of skin deep) —
transgression
for transgression’s sake
bores — trepanation
without trepidation
(no lives lived between
paychecks) —
the reality is
I understand
the urge
to fight, by any means
but can we
choose better
than a mass-produced
divination
can we
choose better
than oligarch’s dimes2
squares3 loud
with the hedonism
I’ve seen the launch
parties all white faces, white
powder, pleasure on the blood
drawn south and out of mind
is it time yet
for less bronze
posing —
can we
get to the gold
not chaos magick plastic but Cayce4
Pollard5,
recognizing the orgone
patterns — oh god —
the ecstatic cries
for help
of course
do as thou wilt
is the whole of the
narcissist — another one
co-opted into the viral
(what)
load of — light cake6 —
(like I’m shy about swearing?
about sharing? no.)
I swear I know
we all start somewhere
but
here
the bar’s in hell
— and while we’re there
can we stop
reclaiming the devil; it’s been done
each century
(and I too spent
years at his feet
dreaming the asshole
an asterisk and just
misunderstood)
— no —
can we leave something
to signify
the bad beyond
its poor taste in jewelry
1 “Out to Lunch.” The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, 2013.
2 “‘Look At What We’re Doing With Your Money, You Dick’: How Peter Thiel Backed An “Anti-Woke” Film Festival”. BuzzFeed News, March 3, 2022.
3 “Dirtbag Dramaturgy in Dimes Square.” Helen Shaw, Vulture, New York Magazine, February 18, 2022. / “Escape From Dimes Square.” Will Harrison, The Baffler, May 24, 2022.
4 See: Edgar Cayce
5 See: William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition
6 See: Aleister Crowley’s Magick in Theory and Practice
