1986, THE FIELDS COMPANY OF CHICAGO
In 1986 the Fields Company of Chicago
purchased the rights to Muzak,
a brand of song to be played—
invisible—in background.
……. Specificity, I used to think,
……. was a hand trained to thread any needle;
……. there were constellations of muscles
……. waiting in the sky to be worked.
A tactic called Stimulus Progression
is used to increase worker productivity.
Muzak consists of 15-minute blocks
increasing in tempo and instrumentation.
……. 1986:
……. Already somewhere you began to work
……. yourself toward and through a point.
The company began to record with its own orchestra
the rising,
worsening 15-minute segments
……. You turn off the highway,
……. a tension like a pin between your lips.
……. In a parking lot in rural Quebec,
……. you exit, run and leap through the air,
……. your arms stretched over your head
……. Old husbands watch from the window of the
……. bilingual slogan-ed diner
……. where there are speakers pumping
……. something neutral, something
……. that can be felt, looking in
……. from the outside. I watch you, still and
……. as if a photograph,
……. before you leap again into the air and
……. the sound fades behind
……. the increasing orchestra of your movement.
Author’s Bio
Fawn Parker is the author of Set-Point (ARP, 2019), Dumbshow (ARP, 2021), and The Death of My Name (McClelland & Stewart, 2022).