I avoid the news and
social media for as
long as I can stand it,
now about 24 hours.
Isn’t that something?
It’s such an impossi
bility. I just don’t
want any of it to
normalize as the
dust settles, so to
speak. It doesn’t
take a pundit to
articulately and
meticulously de
duce (wrap words
round and around
into and then out
of meaning) what
happened. I was
here the whole
time. I have eyes
and I have ears.
Which is why this
mourning is the
hardest thing I’ve
had to endure aside
from the sucker punch
that put me off-balance
in the first place and
landed me in this booby
trapped labyrinth for an
almost unendurable time,
fighting like mad to get
what I once called life
back. This mongrel-
infested maze has be
come the norm. I
need a little time
before I double down
into the trenches on
this one. Rarely did
I hear it get close to
being called what it
was, this new misery
that we’ve become
trapped inside of,
a twisted torture
puzzle inside a now
old and too familiar
one. And don’t worry,
I won’t call it what it is,
either. It might help
make it okay for all
of us. And perhaps
it is alright with you,
I can’t know for certain
who among us are
traitors and who are
friends. That hoodwink
happened long ago. So
trust no one. All I’ll say
is the goods got horded;
the table shrunk and I’m
no longer welcome at it.
The time for negotiations
are over. So I’ve packed
up a little knapsack and
built myself a little raft.
Maybe, could be, there’s
less villainous neighbors
out yonder, further off
than this old man has
yet to be. Who knows?
Even if it’s true, it’s
doubtful I’ll make it
there. But I best be
getting somewhere,
hadn’t I? If for no
other reason but to
fool my poor head
into believing that
there’s getting that’s
yet to be had. And there
is. I just know there is.
