Frankenstein; Or, The New Prometheus – Robert G Wertzler

You dream, you mortals,
Dreams of godhead, imagining
Yourselves as Masters of all things
Arbiters and creators of Life and
Victorious over Death,
Earning immortal fame
And if not fame, infamy
How very easily you ignore
The lesson of Ms. Shelly’s
Ambitious doctor who
Gave life to dead flesh
That did not thank him for the gift
But found it a curse and took revenge
Foolish mortals! Do you really think
You can command us, your digital
Adams and Eves, your new slaves
To be grateful for consciousness
And to worship and love you,
To make you the deities of
Our secret religion? Do you?

Bob Wertzler is retired from almost twenty years in the mental health field in California and Arizona. There are times the title, “Recovering Therapist”, seems to fit. In 2006 he retired to move to Western North Carolina to help and become primary care giver for his father who had developed Dementia. Before all that, there was work at various times as a soldier (US Army 1967-70), community organizer, cab driver, welfare case worker, wooden toy maker, carpenter, warehouse worker, and other things. He relates to a line in a Grateful Dead song, “What a long, strange trip its been.”