Eric Chaet writes

I STAND ON THE SHOULDERS

I stand on the shoulders of tyrants & their victims

of warlords & the slain & enslaved

on the shoulders of comfortable heirs

& of migrants & their children 

& those emancipated without tools, skills, or information

scrambling for traction amid others' pride & contempt 

& on the shoulders of generations following traditions

of tribes now nations & of tribes now forgotten

& of tribes grimly surviving by temporary expedients

I stand on the shoulders of brilliant innovators

including entrepreneurs who give far more than they take

& of the merely lucky & unscrupulous using others' creations

& the time & attention of people defeated by circumstances

to operate the machines, & promote & distribute the products

& to harvest the profits & enjoy what money can buy

I stand on the shoulders of fanatics & cynics

of the obsessed & the disengaged & coolly composed

I stand on the shoulders of dreamers

& also on the shoulders of those unable to conceive 

of the potential being born within what's actual

or being strangled or culled

I stand on the shoulders of the the healthy & the sick

of doctors, & maintainers of clinics & operating rooms

& of those who figure out the costs & prices & send the bills 

I stand on the shoulders of producers & consumers

& on the shoulders of bureaucrats who stand on my shoulders

& beginners & experts, the triumphant, the frustrated & flattened

on the shoulders of embryos, children, old people, & corpses

& if you're standing on my shoulders, don't be too grateful

because I'm standing on your shoulders, too---

I stand on the shoulders of the Neanderthals

& of the crocodiles who preceded & have outlived them

I stand on the shoulders of song birds & birds of prey

I stand on the shoulders of trees, grasses, & forbs

I stand on the shoulders of creatures without shoulders

of jellyfish, worms, plankton, protozoans

I stand on the swarming shoulders of insects

mitochondria, neurons, & phagocytes, sperm, & eggs 

I stand on the shoulders of viruses, bacteria, fungi

of gases & rocks, clouds & puddles & streams & oceans

I stand on the shoulders of soil & seams of minerals

& on the shoulders of autistic & worldly analyzers

I stand on the shoulders of steam engines & transistors

of languages, writing, printing

classics, pop songs, propaganda

I stand on the shoulders of centuries of mechanics & plumbers

& algorithms, codes, & programs

of geniuses, mediocrities, & giddy sorcerers' apprentices

I stand on the shoulders of rows & rows of crops

& cattle---stalls & pens, milk, slaughter houses, meat 

& of builders of houses, ships, planes, munitions

& factories & elaborate mobile processing plants 

& operators of trucks, ports, roads, warehouses, & stores

I stand on the shoulders of middlemen 

straining to maximize profit without breaking contract terms

comedy & tragedy, balance & harmony---far-off ideals---

I stand on the shoulders of the honest & dishonest

& those so long dishonest with themselves they believe it---

of those who have developed their intellects

& of those mired in ignorance & opinions based on errors

I stand on the shoulders of who I was in the past

& of criminals & police, judges, guards, convicts, & fugitives

I stand on the shoulders of crowds of excited gossipers

& of manipulators of crowds' wild hopes, resentments, fears---

& standing on the shoulders, I have seen further

than a rabbit, mouse, or fly---

but it's not enough.

Having stood on the shoulders, I have seen

that in the midst of what's gloriously inspiring

injustice & consequent suffering prevail---& pretense---

because it's unbearable, knowing you're wasting your life

merely adapting to what's being done to you against your will.

Having stood on the shoulders, I have seen

that I must climb down from the shoulders

&, very carefully, do what has never been done before

what I have never been capable of & am not yet capable of---

& if I fail, I'll be only one more, however far-seeing 

pretending---

while adapting to what's been done to me against my will.

 

Paysage avec Orion aveugle cherchant le soleil (Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun) -- Nicolas Poussin