Writings

Writings
Miscellaneous Writings and Musings

Maelstrom

Maelstrom
A genie and her rock band

(Novel and Short Stories)

Steal Tomorrow

Steal Tomorrow
Murder, Mystery, First Love, and the End of the World

(Novel and Short Stories)

My Books and Stories

My Books and Stories
Where to Buy, Read, Download

Beginnings



In the beginning every door was open.

So many choices!
Such broad vistas!

But each door taken closes others;
that's their dirty little secret.
It's what they don't tell you in their classrooms
and churches
and in those rooms of comfy couches and placid pictures
where people speak in soothing tones,
smiling their sympathetic smiles.

On the streets and in the cube farms,
under the buzzing lights,
they understand but have no pity:
Buck up, camper!
That's just the way it is!
spoiledslackerwhinerwhodoyouthinkyouare?

There is no mercy for those who mourn the truth,
who see the narrowing of the pyramid we climb
and grieve the loss of empty space below.

You want choices?
You must turn back,
but that is
Not. Allowed.
irresponsiblechildishweirdoshe'sastrangeoneisn'she?

Tell them to go to hell.
Time isn't a line, but a field.
If you want the joy of choice,
the whole buffet of tasty options,
you must abandon this trajectory
and return to how it was
in the beginning.

Author's Note: This is not where I am at present, although it's a place I'm familiar with. I wrote this for a couple of my regular readers. You know who you are.  This is also a Sunday Scribblings post.

7 comments:

Josie Two Shoes said...

Wonderfully written, and so true... all of it! I know that from now on I'll be thinking of your pyramid when I see people closing off their lives piece by piece, just as I once did mine.

May 13, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Alice Audrey said...

It's just a matter of stepping off the path. Mind you, there's a drop off, and no net.

I have no idea what happened to Old Egg. Have you emailed him?

May 13, 2012 at 1:51 PM
chrisd said...

I had never thought about choices and beginnings that way.

When I go to the store, I am always taking things back. Sometimes you're not allowed to do that. But many, many times, we have do-overs. Do-overs are good.

So creative and full of truth!

May 13, 2012 at 4:16 PM
Jae Rose said...

If you never had a real 'beginning'..a real field of choice and trying things on for size then the only way forward is to go back and have that chance..I agree..and am glad it is a place of the past for you..Jae

May 14, 2012 at 8:38 AM
Archna Sharma said...

This made me think of the primitive choice, the one that is not taught or written out for you. The one that is within and when brought out, helps you create your own buffet.

There is much freedom in shedding the net of indoctrination. Hooray!

May 14, 2012 at 7:42 PM
Susan Helene Gottfried said...

You've written other things that have been right out of my head, but today, I'm grateful this isn't one of them. This is a hard path to follow.

May 15, 2012 at 6:45 AM
Belva Rae Staples said...

I agree. Let's go back to a time when all the doors were open and start over.

May 26, 2012 at 10:24 PM

Post a Comment