Sonnet Sunday 51: Modern Magic

I want you all to know how much I love you.

I love you so much that, just when I had turned out my lights to go to bed, I realized I hadn’t prepared a sonnet for you all this week. So I got up, went downstairs, grabbed my laptop, flipped wildly through old notebooks looking for one that was decent enough to publish, and here we are.

That’s how much I love you.

Having said that, this week’s sonnet was written during a Hutchmoot session led by Lanier Ivester and Chris Slaten entitled “Magicians and Medievalists.” I don’t remember much about it (and I don’t love you all enough to actually read my notes; I mean, come on, it’s 11:38 and I have church in the morning), but I remember it being about The Great Gatsby and, to an extent, advertising. I jotted down many quotes during that session, but two in particular are relevant: Chris Slaten mentioned something about “the wizards of advertising and consumer goods,” and Lanier Ivester added, “The 20th Century has redefined magic for us.” Hence this sonnet.

Modern Magic

Originally written October 8, 2016

All advertising’s magic, promising
A new solution to unhappiness:
Coke, jewelry, shoes, a cruise, all sure to bring
A satisfaction better than the last.
We have no gods to pray to, other than
The Next Big Thing, the Summer Blockbuster,
The XBox, PS4, epic and grand—
We gather items, then try to infer
Status and meaning: hence, covetousness.
We while our lives away, looking for stuff:
A house, a car—only accept the best—
But this deep hunger never claims, “Enough.”
We scramble, scrape, wild dogs digging for bones,
But nothing satisfies our heart’s deep moans.

Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash