Uptick

Uptick 5/30/2012


More of the same
Will not change a thing
Not until we lose the fear
Of standing up
And telling the truth.

Acknowledging the white elephant
Loose in the room
Breaking everything
And crushing everyone.

Only when we can recognize
The bleeding stump
Of liberty and individuality
Where they used to be
Alive and swinging.

We tip toe around reality
And are careful not to offend
While the rope is tightened
Around our heart
And our neck.

But inaction can take you far
If you let it sweep you away
Dragging you down
And drowning you out.

So much for complacency
And so much for safety
As if it ever existed
Or ever mattered.

Either way
Death will claim us
Pulling our heads back
And slitting our throat.

The weight of silence is heavy
Heavier than a stone
Sucking out the spirit
And sinking us in despair.

But that is what happens
When we shrink from truth
Letting everything pass
Unchallenged and uncontested.

The good are forgotten
And crushed to pieces
Ground down by convenience
And destroyed by comfort.

And we get what we deserve
Superficiality and stupidity
Rammed down our throats
Shallow distractions passed off as reality
And reality denied and ridiculed.

Such is the price of peace
That we blandly accept the end
Measured, controlled and herded
Every day of our lives.

The elephant laughs
Because we do not say a word
Scrambling to find room to stand
And any semblance of self.

The future is now
And it is what it is
A mere puff of smoke
Come and gone.

But those we love
Are worth more
Than mere status or safety
With all the potential in the world
For good or for bad.

I go on
For them
And not for me
For there is no indignity
Worth more than them.