The  giants  of  modernism  have  begun  to show  their  age.  “Like  us  on  Facebook,”  one  of  them practically begs. Another is having difficulty remembering various euphemisms for being drunk – soused, plastered, looped, shit­faced, polluted, bombed. . . . All the land around them now belongs to  the storms  that  lash  the sea. The shopping  gods  have  also apparently  turned  against  them. I could tell you more about their secret anxieties if you and I ever actually meet in person. On the History Channel, meanwhile, the Vikings are discovering America. But even with the sound turned up, what it means remains unsuspected.

Howie Good, a journalism professor at SUNY New Paltz, is the author of the forthcoming poetry collection The Middle of Nowhere (Olivia Eden Publishing). He co-edits White Knuckle Press with Dale Wisely.