The King on his frozen throne
reads the latest dire weather charts
Tries to make sense of it all
What the Hell happened here?
No one foresaw this extreme climate change
The dawn of an impossible Ice Age
in the capital city of Pandemonium
There is panic in snowy streets
A grand conclave of experts is convened
to see if this icy calamity can be reversed
The demons are having a devil of a time
dealing with a Hell that has frozen over
The crack task force decrees
extreme blow torch methodology
An army of fire breathing dragons is dispatched
The chilly invader is no match
This solution creates a massive melt down scene
and a raging flood unforeseen
Extinguishing the famed flames of Hell permanently
Somewhere in the thick steam cloud
Satan sobs at the smoldering shroud
dropping to his now soggy knees
for his best laid plans misapplied
where the cure was worse than the disease
The mystical Brahmin man
took me by my heathen hand
to walk toward the ancient temple
over a field of red glowing embers
I expressed natural trepidation
about a potential ouch situation
to the amused guru
who assured me pain was all in the head
Such a good salesman was he
This bearded minister of sincerity
So I took that leap of faith
over the coals glowing
full well knowing
skin is not flame resistant
Skipping and dancing
over the scorched Earth
like a hopscotch champion
I navigated the challenge
and conquered my fears
to the glorious acclaim
of the amazed congregation
and a pack of tourists
who posted my feat online
Speaking of feet.....
The chronic pain
of my permanently charred soles
serve as a constant reminder
that basic science always has it's place
on the spectrum of consideration
in the future affairs of man
Psst....
I just heard
a rumor...
A scrap of
cyber information
based on reliable speculation
from a faceless somebody
who knows someone
with a passing relationship
to an inner circle person
who just leaked out
that something shocking
is going to happen
someday soon
much to the surprise
of the ignorant masses
So...
now you know
inside information
that only a precious few
are privy to
So...
Keep this
on the down low
Don't tell anyone !!
Unless they promise
to keep it a secret
like I did ...
Step inside
our human contradiction
Wrap your arms around
the paradox of us all
A core inconsistency
of this flawed humanity
Deep down
we yearn to be free
Showcase our individuality
on the grand stage
and yet
we're born to conform
First we get assigned to a family
through no choice of our own
Wrapped inside a community
where we invariably get pigeon holed
Play dates
Class mates
Social commitments
Chained to a tribe
Slipped into our slots
Gender role insertion
Economic vice applied
Work... family... friends
Learn to juggle those many roles
til all the parts we play blur
Somewhere along the way
our true identity gets suppressed
The years compress
Memories stored and disposed
The circle contracts
Life slows to a crawl
Time extracts it's price
We look back
and realize too late
we have been played
The paradox becomes clear
as the last act draws near
Only in death
do we finally achieve
the freedom denied by life
One by one
the bridges have been blown
til only one rickety structure remains
connecting the remnants of me
to this ambivalent humanity
We all share a mutual disinterest
with my island existence
Once the disconnect is complete
I'll be a blip of a memory
posing as an afterthought
in the unread footnotes of history
I am a gray ghost of transparency
trapped in a black and white world
I summarily reject your absolutes
Piss on all rigid truths
Nuances I readily see
wrapped in soft subtleties
Let's celebrate scrutiny
You can read between
the lines too
Open your blinds
and let the entire spectrum
of light shine through
See the varied layers
Count every complexity
and realize
that sometimes
there is more than
one right answer
