{"id":4838,"date":"2015-11-14T21:29:22","date_gmt":"2015-11-14T21:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/?p=4838"},"modified":"2016-11-28T13:56:04","modified_gmt":"2016-11-28T13:56:04","slug":"long-line-a-poem-by-m-a-schaffner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/long-line-a-poem-by-m-a-schaffner\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Line. A Poem by M. A. Schaffner"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
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\nIt all comes together in the sprawl<\/p>\n

within homes and shopping centers basking<\/p>\n

in the artificial light and the sounds<\/p>\n

we now spend half our lives in programming.
\n 
\n 
\nCall it a form of worship in which faith<\/p>\n

awaits succeeding images on screens<\/p>\n

displaying visions of a promised land presumed<\/p>\n

to lie beyond the imagined lottery.
\n 
\n 
\nExcept we know we deserve the numbers<\/p>\n

by right of having dreamed them — like Heaven<\/p>\n

for the true believer, who also sins<\/p>\n

if only just to prove he doesn’t always.
\n 
\n 
\nInside the car no natural sounds impose<\/p>\n

but signs remind us the images are real,<\/p>\n

though not always as compelling as the game<\/p>\n

held in your hand, restarted when you die.<\/strong>
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\n 
\n\"MAS<\/a>
\n 
\n 
\nM. A. Schaffner has had poems published in Shenandoah, Prairie Schooner, Agni, <\/em>and elsewhere — most recently in Hermes, Modern Poetry Review,<\/em> and Pennsylvania Review.<\/em> Long-ago-published books include the poetry collection The Good Opinion of Squirrels<\/em> and the novel War Boys<\/em>. Schaffner spends most days in Arlington, Virginia juggling a Toshiba laptop and a Gillott 404.<\/strong>
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\n 
\n 
\n 
\nwww.facebook.com\/PoetryLifeTimes<\/a>
\nwww.facebook.com\/Artvilla.com<\/a>
\n robin@artvilla.com<\/a>
\neditor@artvilla.com<\/a><\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.aquillrelle.com\/authorrobin.htm<\/a><\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.amazon.com. All the Babble of the Souk. Robin Ouzman Hislop<\/a>
\nwww.lulu.com. All the Babble of the Souk. Robin Ouzman Hislop <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Share and Enjoy !<\/h3>
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<\/i><\/a><\/span>\n<\/i><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It all comes together in the sprawl within homes and shopping centers basking in the artificial light and the sounds we now spend half our lives in programming.     Call it a form of worship in which faith awaits succeeding images on screens displaying visions of a promised land presumed to lie … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[656,43],"tags":[18,136,3],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4838"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4905,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4838\/revisions\/4905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}