Genius Heroin; Genuflecting Organisms
by Fred Aiken
i don’t feel like i’ve done enough heroin to be considered smart or a genius
though i often wonder why there are so many people considered genius even after doing, getting hooked on, and dying of heroin…
or other sorts of dumb ways to die
and i wonder if anyone has ever written a book on the history of geniuses that have shaped modern civilization while being high as a kite without the sail beneath their wings
though maybe that’s just a projection
and people are all watching HDTV while attempting DIY projects and failing and going to the emergency room for
decapitated limbs and cuts and hurt feelings
while coming home with anticipation
that there will be someone there inside the evenly numbered amount of walls that contain their sense of security and wonder
to listen to their every wanton supercilious dawdling doodle thoughts haphazardly sketched out
in minds too poor to afford the paper to continue on
before chasing some new adolescent high
feeling
high
minded
scope of inquiry pushed past the rushing throttle of piano keys turning over from gasoline being poured over them
and lit afire
while the volunteer firefighters stand outside and watch as the music dies and sizzles
to the perfect temperature before rushing in to save the day by splashing puddles of philosophical theories
of adjusted moral epistemology on a dispersed crowd crawling under the cloud
of high
high
minded
simple discussions wondering what day what time and what’s the weather like outside
of the heroin den because i haven’t been out in a while and i feel as if i might poke out
but only if the weather has cleared