Ductility
A Stream of Consciousness Poem
Why do human beings covet gold?
Its most astonishing property is ductility
Substances that are ductile can be drawn out
Beaten or stretched, formed into wires or leaves
Beauty beaten thin enough to cover worlds in a scintillating skin
No matter the trivial worthlessness of the covered thing
No matter the vile ugliness of what lies beneath
A shining, lovely mask can be formed to make mud seem glorious
This is our loftiest ambition, our secret, intoxicating fantasy
To make what is lowest seem highest
To make what is diabolical seem angelic
To make a lie seem true
To make evil seem to glow with genuine goodness
To cover a despicable serpent in precious, incandescent scales
What does this reveal about our nature?
We love illusions
Ductile can also describe an individual
As readily beaten or stretched or led along
Obedient and malleable
Eager to be shaped by the will of another
Is this how we wish others were?
Not ends-in-themselves, with their own goals and projects and desires
But mere means: tools that can be readily employed to achieve our ends
Instruments that can be played to make music written by our minds
Gold gladly covers our tracks
Gold glitters and glows and goes where we like
Gold can be exchanged for anything
It is the mask of magic, for sale!
A delectable, dancing disguise
Empty, waiting to be filled
With our own blotched and bungling folly
Gold can disguise any grotesque goon as a god
Is it really such a mystery
Our gluttony for gold?
About the Creator
D. J. Reddall
I write because my time is limited and my imagination is not.
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Comments (4)
What a striking and masterful exploration of a word's meaning and the "weight of gold" so to speak. The part about loving illusions was certainly a hitting the nail on the head sort of line. Excellent work, D.J.!
interesting play on that particular aspect of gold. Great job!
This is a wonderful, thought provoking piece, D.J. I wonder if other cultures are just as fascinated.
I've never been interested in gold. I'm more of a silver and white gold person. Loved your poem!