Exiled to Oblivion

Living in Oblivion 4/9/2012

The rooster struts
And the magician
Twirls his cape
But none are the wiser
Who don’t watch and think.

We are like spectators
At a circus
Eyes affixed to the rings
Amused, distracted
And over medicated.

Trained to laugh on cue
At shallow visions of reality
As we sink ever deeper
Into what we see.

Too busy just keeping up
To notice all the clues
Massing at the event horizon
Or crouching in the bushes.

A sniper takes his aim
Cool, calm and deadly
Hidden in the landscape
Dead center ahead.

Some shoot to kill
And some want to maim
Whatever it takes
And whatever they want.

Life is a strange thing
If we know only what we feel
Glancing sideways off the target
And never living at all.

Picture me as I was
Or paint me as I am
An anachronism, and a riddle,
A secret and a scribe.

Like a monk on an island
Isolated and remote
Hidden in a shelter
Of moss covered rocks.

Transcribing the words
Greater than my own
Lost in the dark ages
Hidden from the sun.

Two parallel lines will never meet
But instead, just go on forever
Crossing over all the same places
At almost always the same time.

Our lives go on
Until they end
Covering all the same experiences
But with a different
Taste, opinion, and reaction.

But some lines are skewed
And veer off course
Consumed by greed
Or hatred.

They love to criticize the dead
The ones who did the work
And built all we have
But they have built nothing
Never have, and never will.

The reaper crouches
And steadies his aim
While the innocent play
Deaf, dumb and proud.

They can kill me once
But never can they twice
Just a step away
And hidden in the smoke.

Follow me here
And follow me there
Shooting in the fog
And shooting in the air.

The foolish are lost
Dumb and mystified
Trying hard to explain
The unexplainable truth.

Our lives are intertwined
And circle each other
At the just the right places
And at just the right times.

Come friends and watch
Circle around and sing
Because love is eternal
And we will prevail.