Mid Afternoon

Mid Afternoon  11/20/2014 

Others have seen

And many more have known

What it’s like to be dragged

Through the mouth of hell.  

To see the good chewed up

By shot, cannon, and canister

And grotesquely splayed

Dead on the ground. 

They remember the struggle

The boredom and the horror

Of highs and lows

Seldom seen by man. 

They stare vacant

And try to forget

But we who have inherited the treasure

Laugh and throw it away. 

We live, work, and commute

Unknowing and unconscious

Pretending that our energies matter

And our goals important. 

But what do we really have

Nothing but a mirage

Of an imagined future

Always out of reach

And shimmering in the distance. 

We do one thing

And then we do another

Chasing after rainbows

And tilting at windmills.

It would be tragic

If it wasn’t so very sad

That we fling ourselves against a wall

Until we are bloody, bruised,

And dead. 

In the meantime

I have those I love

But even they can be taken

As we all grow old

And grow apart. 

What is life without meaning?

And what is survival?

Without philosophy and creativity

Nothing but breathing and eating

Breeding and dying. 

The freedom to define

And the freedom to choose

Unfettered

And without fear. 

If it comes from man

He can give it

Or take it away

But the good should remember

That all of it,

Comes from God.