Tag: paradise

A brand new paradise

Published on by Maciej ModzelewskiLeave a comment

Perhaps it was a fragment of the Berlin Wall embedded in an acrylic block,
gathering dust on a shelf next to the certificate of authenticity,
or the faded silhouette of Gary Cooper on the iconic Solidarity election poster
in a glass case on the wall of the study, or some other memorabilia from the era
that, at a glance, brought to mind the end of history—that sarcastic mistress,
whose abrupt return from what turned out to be nothing but a short vacation,
caused the last man’s every reading to become an exercise in caution.
But the crisis of authority met the advent of the algorithm, giving birth to a bastard
cooking up a brand new paradise based on the good old blueprints—an ant colony,
only this time from a bio-lab test tube, augmented by neural implants.

Sons of Adam

Published on by Maciej ModzelewskiLeave a comment

My name is Adam, son of Adam,
son of Adam, son of… you get the idea—and this whole litany
is just to soothe some pesky qualms of questionable origin.
Wouldn’t it be easier to simply mention Eve?
After all, he was nothing but an accidental sperm donor.
If it were up to him, they would still be stuck
in that sterile confinement.

A surreal watercolor painting showing a half-angelic figure flying out of a room in the clouds and a man with a hat sitting thoughtfully on a stool

French breakfasts

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

You know it’s time to leave when every breakfast becomes an act
of desperation, and yet you prolong this little la-la land in denial
as if a stuffed croissant with café au lait were the epitome of certainty.

Didn’t you admit long ago that someone else had already spared you
from the hell of paradise? Knowing you, I doubt you have any desire
to answer. If anything, you’d pretend there was no question asked.

And there is still the unrewarding experience of returning home,
which sounds a bit melodramatic, even for someone like you,
but if you wanted to, it could simply be reduced to a logistics problem.

After all, a broken heart can’t find solace in complaining about cold feet.

an oil painting showing a man in his luxurious villa dreaming of immortality

Journal (Forever)

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

How long is forever? Wait, did I just wake up to ask this question, or did the question wake me up? All I know is that every time I open my eyes unexpectedly in the middle of the night, the time stretches on forever, although I’m not sure if this time it actually was about time. Anyway, I remember when I was a little boy, like a member of some primitive tribe whose numeral system was limited to one and many, “now” was the only tangible idea that I could understand. So “forever” was anything other than this instant. But I guess that’s something common for all children. With time, we all overcome this little shortcoming and forever move to a more abstract conceptual realm, unless, of course, we use it in some metaphorical way, as when we complain about having to wait forever for a loved one to call. There are also those who fetishize “forever” with their wet dreams about everlasting life, but they should be careful what they wish for; they just might get it. That would be nothing but the hell of paradise all over again.

A woman and a man leave paradise into the void of the unknown

Paradise Lost, or something like that

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

Being immortal seems like such a hassle. Personally, I do not mind
the expiration date—all the bodily needs are what really bother me.
Imagine taking care of that ad infinitum when there is only so much
you can do to spice it up. Even after boredom eventually killed your
spirit, you still had no choice but to perform the daily rituals. So stop
finally whining about paradise lost, because in fact, it was a desperate
escape from hell.