The Pope's Postmodern Death
Posted: April 2nd, 2005, 3:37 pm
His breathing is shallow
but his mind is lucid
and his soul is deep.
The Holy See
whose life support
is T.V.
Behold! the failing organs
of the papacy!
arrayed in news headlines
like the jars of a pharaoh.
Behold! the chilling monster
of death embodied in the mix
of biomedical discourse
and charismatic authority.
He has given a thousand bishops
courage to face the end
and a million weeping women
a reason to weep.
Think of the flocks
that owe their existence
to the opposition to contraception!
As first taught in India,
a holy man must love
all living creatures,
including the organisms
of sexually transmitted diseases.
Think of Jesus on the way
to crucifixion.
The exposure of suffering flesh
needed a holy spirit
in lieu of a telecommunications
network.
There is an age of resurrection;
an age of reproduction;
and an age of repetition.
(To paraphrase McLuhan,)
The media is the messiah.
Set your TiVo now
to record next week's episode
of Extreme Makeover
Catholic Church edition.
[reposted from Culture forum]
but his mind is lucid
and his soul is deep.
The Holy See
whose life support
is T.V.
Behold! the failing organs
of the papacy!
arrayed in news headlines
like the jars of a pharaoh.
Behold! the chilling monster
of death embodied in the mix
of biomedical discourse
and charismatic authority.
He has given a thousand bishops
courage to face the end
and a million weeping women
a reason to weep.
Think of the flocks
that owe their existence
to the opposition to contraception!
As first taught in India,
a holy man must love
all living creatures,
including the organisms
of sexually transmitted diseases.
Think of Jesus on the way
to crucifixion.
The exposure of suffering flesh
needed a holy spirit
in lieu of a telecommunications
network.
There is an age of resurrection;
an age of reproduction;
and an age of repetition.
(To paraphrase McLuhan,)
The media is the messiah.
Set your TiVo now
to record next week's episode
of Extreme Makeover
Catholic Church edition.
[reposted from Culture forum]