Advertising: The Literary Genre of the Age

After, oh, 1920, let's say,
advertising became
the dominant literary genre.
It's stories, images, and ethos
hold culture's imagination.

Advertising's the myth,
the epic poem, the novel,
the drama of our age.

Other genres pretend
at the edges, play at their
old importance. It is assumed
that publishers advertise novels,
especially best-sellers, that studios
advertise films, especially
block-busters, and that other
studios advertise music, but
novels and films and music
and the rest
publicize advertising,
the master genre

that sells space, real
and virtual, and that turns
a profit, which is the god
of our creation myth.


Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom

"Full Moon," by Henry Dumas

"Carson McCullers," by Charles Bukowski

"Ballad of the Micro-Town," by Hans Ostrom

"Susana Soca," by Jorge Luis Borges

"For the Birds," by Hans Ostrom

"The Safety Buffalo," by Hans Ostrom

"The House on the Hill," by Edwin Arlington Robinson

"Love Song for Lucinda," by Langston Hughes

Difference-Maker

The universe is big.
It doesn't care. It
goes on forever.
We don't. Still,

today I saw
and heard a woman
laughing. So by
definition, the universe

produces humor and
joy, not to mention
women. That kind of
fact can be a real

difference-maker.

Copyright 2012 Hans Ostrom

"The Comet at Yell'Ham," by Thomas Hardy

"Ill Luck," by Charles Baudelaire

Jury Duty

We passed through voi dir,

my dear, were made peers

of a rococo realm, with its

perched presider and purchased

persuaders.  We nodded at passing

evidence, became a dozen guilty

buzzards asked to shadow

a creature offered on an altar

called The People.  We heard

arguments open and close

like shutters banging in the wind.

In a room, our opinions

accumulated like snow.  In that

drift was buried our decision,

which we seized.  The facts had

whispered to us, “He is guilty.”

We listened to them and repeated

what they said.  The defendant

bowed his head.  Shadows

of our doubt followed us outside,

where, greasy-winged, we joined

The People leading perfectly

legal lives.

--Hans Ostrom, copyright 2012