empty idols Another Poem

I wrote empty idols a day or two ago. I actually wrote three related poems, but this one captures the main idea the best. It is likely I will re-write / edit the other two, and post them at some point. Anyway, Matt Colville tweeted out how people have their identity wrapped up in game systems, whether those be Xbox vs Playstation, or editions of role playing games, or whatever. For some reason, a lot of people have their identity wrapped up in things that, well, I don’t get it.

Here’s the tweet, if anyone cares. Most of that thread is about the content of the video, but there are a few about identity. I’m guessing mostly gamers will like the thread, and not many others.

This, of course, made me leap to a political thought, about how so many people have wrapped their identity into one party or another, and forgotten why they supported that party in the first place. So, naturally, I tried to write a poem about it. I wrote one, then another, then a third. In rapid succession. This is the one that I like the most.

empty idols

I play THIS game
I support THIS party
I watch THIS TV show

Ya, but
What about
Pedantic this, pedantic that
No logic
No facts

hollow beliefs in
empty idols
we worship
empty idols
we argue over
empty idols

without meaning,
empty
lacking love
empty
without empathy
empty

Our principles?
Forgotten
Logic and reason?
Abandoned

For what?
hollow, unimportant, meaningless,
empty idols

I just edited it, to change the name from false idols to empty idols. That was partly in there, partly not. I like the IDEA of empty idols a lot…….so, ,empty idols it is. For now. A few other words were also changed, so this one, I guess, is actually edited and re-written, unlike some of the other poems here. We’ll see if I re-visit this one or not.