transformation

some things lay close to the surface
like lilies on a pond of clear water
a crab scrambling down a landslide
of watery lichen near an ocean pool

and some things are deep inside
sown in pale gardens of our withered soul
by a deranged gardener who acts
on the outer edges of accepted behavior
who transcends
boundaries of our blinkered social graces

do you doubt the essence of a man
beneath his façade of anger and despair
have you spent time at his side,
smelling his sweat, breathing his air,
will you find him hollow and incomplete
if he fails to remain a mystery
do you see him in years to come,
traveling broken and alone through
the debris of his shattered mind,
like his father before him?

if there is nothing at all you feel
then is darkness built like a wall
bricks of blank emotion to numb sensation
meant to cut off a bombardment of fear
these garrets we use to house the insane and impure
outside this inner sickness of our collective soul

should we all become a memory
our face and fingerprints lost in the sand
while we demean other lives
by rewriting history
erasing those we deem unworthy of notice
that a life could be lost and never reclaimed
for without thought, without memory
what else remains?

this is what I say to you now – live!
those of you who have been driven down
by the pompous regard of societal deceit
come out of your closets and cupboards
seek those creatures which live under lilies
who dwell in dark waters you dare not enter

touch spiders and crabs and insects with wings
go out into barren streets of everyday life,
dive into murky pools of miskept dreams then
inhale as you bathe in the stench of the unclean
feed on the refuse of personal frailties and fear

have these claim all of your attention
every minute of the day
not just the last half hour of life
as you fall asleep during the news
and yet withdraw all response until fully sated
until your thirst for the scum of life is quenched
so that necessary steps can be taken
to correct the injustices you’ve forsaken

keep thinking, keep functioning,
in spite of a desire to run away and howl
in tureens of madness
like the demented soul you might have been -
seek reality in mirrors of the forgotten
and as you fall into a disturbed slumber
enter your dreams transformed.