Burning Man Survival Guide

‘The rich are flown in on private planes…’ New York Times

On the page opposite, an image of the Burning
Man and his flaming shadow where it is similar to
what language poets believe grammar itself to be

in a vacant future. The optics play
especially well in the pricier suburbs and gated
communities where they refuse to let the devil in

no matter what language he speaks whisperingly
in their ears. In town, the mass protest was heavily
advertised; however, the deal included

the spaghettification of those masses in real time.
Still humans are territorial animals, people
have the necessary tools. Dazzling in what those outposts

had to offer (a blur of sugar, bright color and crassness)
‘I imagined some kid who moved only, or mostly,
through such bland bright spaces, spaces

perfectly constructed to suit the purposes of distant
profit.’ Yet, in sarcoline fields we are already seeing
all my life decisions, the timeline itself a bit wobbly, not

quite stable, a sacrifice of lives. Here I see a rise
in solidarity, dystopian cities, a bent circle,
a carnival ride where the lights go out. Venus in Scorpio.

David Wyman's second poetry collection, Violet Ideologies, was published in 2020 by Kelsay Books. His first book Proletariat Sunrise, also published by Kelsay Books, came out in 2017. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Dissident Voice, Blazing Stadium, BlazeVOX, Clockwise Cat, Picaroon Poetry, Down In The Dirt, The Voices Project, Squawk Back, Tuck Magazine, The Aurorean, Zombie Logic Review, S/WORD and Genre: Urban Arts among other publications. He's a fan of Noam Chomsky, jazz guitar and the visionary poetry of William Blake. Read other articles by David.