Under Glass

Under Glass 6/27/2012


Nothing but a sheet of glass
Separates the living and the dead
An impermeable barrier
Transparent and cold.

The thinnest of membranes
Of chance and numbers
Separate us
From savage emotions.

Between forgiveness and murder
And love and indifference
There is always a chance
To Step back and think.

We are born into the world
And separated by bodies
Earth, clay, blood and bone
Here or there
By random chance.

We take our place
And play the parts
As either participants
Or bystanders.

Waiting and watching
For something to change
Something or anything
Just to know we are alive.

But most of us
Are quiet and docile
Seldom eager
To rock the boat
Or take a chance.

But in a pack
Men become animals
Devolving into rape
Violence and murder.

How many have looked away
And pretended not to see
As the innocent are drug out
Humiliated, beaten or killed.

What will the future bring
When the dogs multiply
Losing their fear of authority,
Punishment or shame.

A thin line of restraint
Is what keeps us safe
Thinner than we think
And melting in the sun.

It is no secret
When you open your eyes
That something is happening
Dark, dangerous,
And terrifying.

A time bomb is ticking
Underneath our feet
As the fires rage
And the flood waters rise.

Nothing is safe
and no one is immune
Not from the wounding
That comes from truth.

We live in glass houses
But we hide under the covers
Pretending no one can see
And will pass right by.

Breaking the glass
Can cut you
But silence will kill you
If not today
Then one day for sure.

Better it is make a mess
Than it is to hide
And wiser it is to act
Before it is too late.

There will always be time to build
And even the body will heal its wounds
But once the spirit is dead
The body means nothing at all.

Some men live in prisons
But some of us have a choice
To be either the dead
Or the lost.

The first of the dead lives
Fearless and free
So today I break the glass
And laugh at the blood.