Pulling a Steckler
Steckler was the type of guy
Who would ruin
The fun
Of magic tricks
Enjoyed by friends
By revealing their mechanics
Partly to annoy
Mostly because he could
His routine was so common
His act was named
Pulling a Steckler
So named by friends
With no first names
As a young chide
He had meticulously dissected
Almost two hundred frogs
A familiar story becoming mythic
Scores of animation erased
Weather comical or cruel
Such carrion luggage
Exacting a price
He became all too familiar
As corpses became cool
With rigid bodies of evidence
So much so
He became convinced
They were never really alive
In the first place
Winning a world without
Magic
Banished
To a place filled
With undead
Never quite living
Any warmth met with
More heat than light yielding
A cold and shadowy place
Needing no other
To take his breath away
Nor confer
Pulling a Steckler
Out of a hat
To be warn
His crowning achievement
In the mud
Like a croak
Hauntingly unfamiliar
In the passing years
This poem is another ode to the strange places that the logic of scientific reductionism will lead us. Many will cross the line from elucidating the mechanics of everyday magic to an all out assault on mystery itself. The worst offenders militantly believe in nothing. Most just can’t make peace between objects and subjects — which is one of my favorite subjects! On a good day, we can avoid hurling high-speed objects at subjects! I find subjects infinitely more valuable and fascinating than objects. The sad thing about the character in this poem, Steckler, is that he alienated himself from other people by missing the whole picture; ironically, by trying to explain the whole picture, as he sees it. I can relate to this passion, if not obsessive compulsive disorder. I am sure that I alienate some with all of my talk about spirituality, the transcendent, and mysticism. My only defense is a claim that open minds focus more on more, and cramped hearts focus more on less. Science without serendipity is like pinching aloof. Speaking of serendipity, I chose the name “Steckler” as a pun on stickler. Being a stickler for Steckler, upon further genealogical investigation, I learned that the origin of the name “Steckler” is a nickname for a person known for making snide remarks. May “pulling a Steckler” add to awe, not take it away…
