Sword Swallower

Sword Swallower 3/27/2012

It is a bitter pill
That we have to swallow
Bitter and barbed
Sharp and dirty.

Pulled by the mouth
And jerked in all directions
We spin our wheels
Going nowhere fast.

Such is the life
Of the middling worker
Used and used again
And always chasing
After the prize.

We learn to suppress
And we learn to be quiet
Doing nothing to draw attention
And nodding our heads
In perfect agreement.

We watch as the stupid
Dumb down the world
Rewarding the shallow
And burying the truth.

But digesting the truth
Isn’t always easy
As it sticks in the gut
And never goes away.

A foreign object
That attracts infection
Rotting us
From the inside out.

Spreading to the heart
And spreading to the brain
Forming a thick callous
In a million small degrees.

And we decay into silence
Atrophied by time
And gagged with fear
Until we die
Deformed and forgotten.

I don’t need a rock
To break through this glass
And I don’t need an excuse
To do what is right.

Only you can choose
How you live
Or how you die
The most important decision
Better finished right
And better finished true.



The Straw Man 3/27/2012

The world loves
Men made of straw
Because they are easy to make
And easy to kill.

We can give them hair
And we can give them eyes
Put skin on their bones
And words in their mouth.

We make them foolish
And we make them mean
Setting them up
Just to knock them down.

They make us look witty
And they make us feel good
Because they are mute
Deaf. Dumb and dead.

Useful opponents of the weak
And the ignorant
Who have never done a thing
And never fucking will.

Because nothing is easier
Than a one-sided fight
With every punch and counter punch
Staged and executed.

Good becomes evil
And evil becomes good
Because men without a conscience
Don’t care
As long as they get their money
And as long as they get their way.

Because the weak need something
To fill their empty heads
So they summon up a lie
And attack from behind.

They need to feel superior
And they need to let you know
As if any of it matters
When the truth is obvious.

But it does not take brilliance
To see through this game
Just a glass wall
Thin and fake.

But if you have eyes
Then you can see
The man behind the mask
And the puppets on a string.

Draw back the curtains
To see who they are
The liars and the pretenders
Paper tigers
Fake and dead.

They are the weak
And they are the dumb
Substituting prejudice
For intelligence and vision.

Burn the straw men
But don’t mess with me
Because I know the truth
And I will not give in.

I live in the real world
And I am not afraid
More than able
And more than ready.