Poem: "Coal into Diamonds"
This poem came out of the July 6, 2010 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman, who wanted to see an experimental anthropologist making creepy subtle changes to cultures so as to observe the results ... in haiku form. I used this list of anthropology theories as additional inspiration. This poem was sponsored out of general funds, selected by the audience in a poll.
Coal into Diamonds
Neoevolutionism
the environment
creates the society
earth to tree to bud
anthropologist
grows curious, and ventures
an experiment
Sociobiological Anthropology
genes shape a culture
cherry blossom turns to stone
but does not fall far
anthropologist
unwinds the spirals of life
to see what happens
Symbolic Anthropology
the key to culture
lies in individuals
interpreting shapes
anthropologist
gives them new symbols, sowing
circles that bloom square
Postmodernism
no one is neutral
about other cultures: our
footprints follow us
anthropologist
crushes coal into diamonds
soft science turns hard