NO LONGER IN KANSAS: A Philosophical Journey

	How could anyone who has read the sun-bleached,
	comforting prose of L. Frank Baum seriously ever face
	the sharp, fractured mirrors of post-modern philosophy?

	If Dorothy Gale had experienced genuine illumination–
	a sudden, blinding clarity beyond the Kansas dust–
	wouldn't she remember her magic shoes
	weren't spun from Hollywood dreams
	but from the raw power of enchantment?

	Though there are infinitely more stars scattered
	across the night than our human eyes can perceive
	aren't there also more secrets in the corridors of fiction
	than human have time to see?

	Why are so few people in the audience
	truly commit to the journey–
	to wear their shoes then stride toward
	undiscovered Emerald Worlds?
	Why do most remain pinned to their seats,
	motionless, watching possibilities flicker and fade
	like movie reels that never quite comes into focus?

	It comes down to glass slippers:
	they are fragile and glittering,
	promising magical transformations
	while our existence place.

	However, the moment they scrape against
	the pavement of reality they crack,
	shard by shard,
	teaching us how easily dreams can shatter.

	To reach new fields, we go beyond comfort.
	Yes, we must cultivate wild, untamed imaginations,
	letting them run feral beyond all iron fences.

	When we are coaxed, cockled, & stoked into fierce embers,
	the old monochrome cornfields of Kansas do not merely sway;
	they bow like the ancient naves of cathedrals,
	and the distant spires of Oz shine with a sudden, splendid, terrifying light.


Shu:  (in a low murmur, gazing into the surrounding darkness) Where is this place... 
      the place the poem calls 'Kansas'?

Ella: (With a faint, cryptic smile) It's not on any map, dear Shu. It is a state of mind– 
      flat, gray country where the mountains of aspiration are far away. Kansas is a place 
      where you believe your power is limited to single, black-and-white fields and corn, 
      wheat, and pork pens.

Jack: (with a dry, cynical laugh) Yeah. It’s where you end up when the color drains out. 
      Sadly, it’s a place many people end up. Somewhere between utter obscurity and impending calamity.

Shu:  (softly, after a pause) Oh, I've been there before.



=====================================================================================
from Lit-A-Rupture: A Post Literary Construction by T Newfields
LONG SUMMARY:  A post-modern philosophical poem and accompanying dialogue juxtaposing the comforting imagery of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz with the harsh realities of shattered dreams, 
urging readers to push past comfort, embrace untamed imaginations, and journey toward profound self-actualization.
SHORT SUMMARY:  Thoughts about DL. Frank Baum and discovering worlds beyond Kansas.
KEYWORDS: post-modernism, existential allegories, Wizard of Oz poetry, imagination and reality,
inner journeys, literary criticism, dreams versus reality, Emerald City, Dorothy Gale, 
Glass slippers metaphor, L. Frank Baum, philosophical poetry

by T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955)
Begun: 1999 in  Maui, HI   ⨳ Finished: 2026 in Shizuoka, Japan
Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted

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