Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Awakened, and Lately Wrathful

Not like before,
we hear these
ringing bells
and cease to
salivate, the
training broken,
the enchantment
shattered.

Not like before,
we look up from
our hand-work,
our computer
terminal, our
lunch hour with
the same sandwich
as the three days
before, and see
that it has been
rusted away,
faded down,
adulterated until
our own dream
is unrecognizable
to us.

Not like before,
we fail to eat all
the slop they've
dished up on our
account, but spit it
back, and perhaps
it is too late, and
all our secret faiths
have fallen, and
we have been
robbed blind and
swindled poor,
but these last few
steps toward the
edge of the precipice
of damnation will
not go easy for them,
and they will
not look clean or
antiseptic of our
blood...

not like before.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...and perhaps..too late. Alas were it not so. Awakened? Well some of us at least. I really feel this one Firehawk. It would seem, though that the Pavlovian response has been inculcated into our society so deeply that only a Hrculean effort on the part of the Awakened could effect any change. Perhaps it IS too late.

S.L. Corsua said...

A change in general social behavior? Or in the individual's perception of it? Maybe both. Maybe our threshold of tolerance has greatly diminished. And rightly so.

^_^ Hi, Patrick! I do constantly read your posts, though at times I remain a silent reader, contemplating. I hope you are well. Cheers.

Anonymous said...

A very insightful, thoughtful peice of work. Nice to read out loud.

MB said...

The title sums it up. Our habits shape us, but some things can shake us.

Anonymous said...

"these last few
steps toward the
edge of the precipice
of damnation will
not go easy"

I recall catching fish with my grandfather. The trout would fight steady until they saw the boat and then fight for all they were worth - jumping and shaking their heads to try and throw the tackel.

We grudingly accept all the indignities of modern life: the traffic snarl, the demanding boss, the rising price of gas, polution, our ridiculious politicians... It's certainely not what we planed for in our youth. We can "maturely" rationalize and deal with any one of these sores. But taken collectively the scabs can sometimes wear away - exposing the fulness of our wounds - and allowing us to see the boat, the hook, the line the sinker.

This one got to me too.

Patrick M. Tracy said...

Bobby,

The question, I suppose, is this: Too late for whom? Perhaps for us, so deeply trapped by the conventions of our world, it is too late. For others, however, it may yet be possible to slip free and regain some ability to "walk in beauty".

Soulless,

Changing human nature...that's the big challenge. When I figure that one out, I'll be sending around a memo.

Glad to see you back. I don't hold absence against anyone, though, since I've been pretty bad at blogging recently, especially commenting on other people's sites.

Doc,

You do me a kindness with your words.

MB,

Yep...

Swiftboat,

Glad this one affected you, but sorry that I feel that the words are true. Would that it were a better world, eh?

Bill said...

Hi Patrick.. This one does read nicely aloud... and it hit home as well.

I think this touches another of those 'universal' experiences we've discussed before. Somehow feeling like we've been cheated of the dream... when, in the end, we've really cheated ourselves.

The upside is.. once you realize it, you can change it!

Another grea piece

Patrick M. Tracy said...

Bill,

Good to see you back. As far as universality (if that, indeed, is a word), I wish that the feeling that everything's slipping through our fingers wasn't one of those feelings.

I'm glad, though, that the piece read well aloud, and that it struck a chord with you.

Again, good to see you in my comments page, and also good to see new posts from you at your site.

Across Inconstant Breath

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