Poetry And Power

"If You're Godless, Please Share Mine"
(Or, "An Ode To Me And Gary")
By Riana Pfefferkorn

With credits to Alice Cooper's "Clones" and various Numan songs

I've been having problems
Adjusting to my Numanoid status.
I was born to this position,
the favourite daughter of an aging geek-rocker
who was in a car crash
and in a home war--
I've never been quite the same.

I've tried to be a good disciple,
tried to expand my enthusiasm,
but Gary knows it's hard
in the land of opportunity
no-man's-land
not Numan's land.
No albums on the shelves,
so little airplay,
and so few others like myself.
I've converted one, but where are these others?

I remember the indignities I suffered
mimicking the machman on Halloween.
No recognition on their faces--
my friends' expressions stranger to me
than the white visage with blond hair
which stared at me from the album cover and from the mirror.

I remember the noise noise
of a night spent in havoc
after betrayal by my one Numanoid peer, my best friend.
You know I hate to ask, but just who's electric?
All the ironies emerge in the dark
and it's very touching, really--
I'm so close to him
at that time
at the moment of absolution, any mention of the man.

I know what it is to wish to be a machine.
I know what it is to be alone and lonely.
You are in my vision, Gary; you are not my sole focus
but I will be an agent, a warrior
for the spread of your word.
The world's been having problems
adjusting to my Numanoid status
but me! I'll connect them to you.
Time waits for Numan.


Written by Riana Pfefferkorn of Fremont, California, USA
Submitted 7 January 1997
© Copyright 30 December 1996 - Riana Pfefferkorn