Pac-Man (Extract)
By Stephen Cain
Four phantoms in a shifting labyrinth. Prozac indigo failsafe. The
breakfast was nothing more than a lucky charm, the vision a
narrative failure. Imploding at a touch, the swallower swallowed.
--
Even from this small extract from Cain's poem - published in his book American Standard/Canada Dry - it's obvious to see that videogame poetry can be as refined as any other poem. Obvious, perhaps, but then there are still people who see games as the electric equivalent of Fisher Price baby toys. Stephen Cain is actually a Canadian academic, so you could expect his verse form treatment of Pac-Man to be a little more advanced in skill than your average forum post.
What's great about Cain, though, is how he uses Pac-Man (and other games elsewhere in the book) to reflect on the hungry, blind consumerism and destructive nature of our modern world. Like the music we listen to, the art we admire or the great films we watch, videogames themselves have the narrative power to be used in illustrating problems or issues within society, when addressed by an intelligent and prying mind.
Er. Feels like we ought to be making a joke now, doesn't it? Guess that's why Cain is a literary professor and we're not...
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