Clouds, Smoke and Mirrors
By David Walsh

World Cup play-off, Vojens, 2015: an intoxicating smoke-screen
Of burning methanol and castor oil?
Or some oblique manifestation, if you will; a curved mirror held up
Toward the clouds of Sils Maria

So here, on the world stage, a brand new engine
Techno. Logical. Evolution.
And a brilliant young performer seizes the main chance
Under Ole's super vision

Down to the wire, he and the rest have the need for speed
To spin Fortuna's wheel and carve a name
Deep into the red dirt and history books
To nominally live on and on, forever

But to remain an actor within the broader game
Not necessarily fame but patrons play the main role
And a producer's appetite for ever more capital -
Smith's "vile maxim:" all for oneself, and oneself alone

And in that play there appears to be the guile
And, if needed, high-price access to a robotic arm
Though the stem cell therapy is yet to come
For a death-defying synergy between technology, money and (Wo)Man

Yet to eagerly make the most of youth while young
And accept with great grace what you'll then become
Is the ultimate act of remaining forever human
So race/gaze to the future and beware the promise beyond...

"The Clouds of Sils Maria"

This article was first published on 28th June 2015