Alchemy
The Art of Wealth Creation

I close the book
eight years for this…
I’ve studied the formulas
the recipes, the maps
they just don’t survive the outside

Inputs.
roads,
raw materials,
access to capital,
markets and,
labor
no mention of soil or precipitation
no value assigned to caregiving or societal cohesion

Centre.
NY 400
from Maple I round the on-ramp
I see alchemy in action
on the petroleum tarmac of the centre–periphery expressway

to the shoulder dragged from the path of oncoming traffic
mammalian beasts struck down by passers-by
flesh, fur, blood
pressed,
ground,
into the road
red
to brown
to gold

here on the municipal,
the micro — level
the immutable laws of economics are reversed

capital-flows and resources spread outward to outlying communities
where wealth can be properly cared-for and nurtured

Periphery.
roads always make me remember
paralleling the Inga-Shaba transmission route
always the passenger never the driver
here, the natural laws of commerce were observed

sealed high-voltage lines protected
barbed wire and cameras from the Inga dams to the Kulwezi mines
the entire 11 hundred mile stretch
three days if we’re lucky, but we always planned for five

from the headwaters carried along roads fresh cut from wilderness
the soil cap bleeds out in the first rains after tree fall
the rest is plundered more methodically:
burning,
mining,
logging,
tv, and,
cultivation

Zairians, now Congolese
attempt to steal the electricity they will finance for decades to come
leaving the occasional charred or shot body scattered along the road side

a temporary biological testament
to desperation, lawlessness, and economic barbarism

whether pushed in front of traffic by the spread of unregulated sprawl
or fried or executed by the chicanery of global trade and crony capitalism
victims are seen as perpetrators or pests

I feed into the I-90 with other commuters
merging traffic, sipping coffee
and too many fuckers playing with phones
the commerce of it all

Output.
books always tell the tale
although often not the one we were hoping for

those expert in the secrets of the Emerald Tablet
believe their practice to be a clear path to riches and economic development

whether transforming lead into gold
or trusting in extraction and export-oriented production

whether their faith lies in Hermeticism or competitive advantage
makes no difference

the poor will be poorer
the rich will get richer

with the polite-society cover of formulas, policies and structural adjustments
from Congo to the U.S. from the Kisangani-Buta Road to the 400
the centre-periphery model performs as desired
although it seems more gas-lighting than science

the lifeblood of peoples, the lifeblood of nations, drained
the destitute to the prosperous
we know who writes history
so there’s no book for that

flowing over asphalt
ground into the pavement
from red
to brown
to gold

© 2003-2022 Brian Brown-Cashdollar