The Needy Bleeds

 The Needy Bleeds                 5/21/2015

In just one day

Or in a single hour

So much can change

As we all wait for something

Or anything at all.

We sit in chairs

And stand in lines

All of us waiting

For money or for food.

Beneath the all the details

There is the dichotomy

We live

And we die

Unwilling captives

On our way to the end. 

We chase the rabbit

Or lunge at the carrot

For the most part

Without question

Or thought. 

Reality hits hard 

But at different times

And in different ways

As either, we wake up

Or just roll over. 

I can stare at the ceiling

Or I can stare at the wall

Inanimate as a box

Dead or alive. 

We pull the lever

And get, what we want

But none of it, will feed the soul

And none of it

Will last. 

We don’t speak

And we don’t listen

So we never learn

And never grow. 

Wasting our time

Dancing in a circle

Hedging our bets

Manipulated and dumb.

Next to us

Is the killer

Unable to escape

A splintered psyche

And violent urges.

Joking one minute

And slashing the next

No more an man

Than a beast.

We eat, and we drink

We work, and we earn

Buying, and selling

Mere inches from hell.

Unaware

And unprepared

Victims of desires

We do not understand. 

We survive 

But never understand 

That all we had to do 

Was swallow our pride

And try something new.