Look Again

 

Conjured

Doomsday

Prognostication

Midway-esque

Statistical

Slight of hand

Splashing

Broad

Humourless

Blackened

Brushstrokes

Across

A

Canvas

That 

Once

Reflected

Infinite possibility 

Media

Political forces

Marketing

Propaganda

Speculation

Dressed as authority

Assumption

And blind conjecture

Collide

To 

Offer

Nay insist

There be

One & only one

Finite

Response

All 

Others

Need not apply

Unmitigated 

Authoritarianism 

Sold as

Altruism

Swallowed whole

By

The gaping maw

Of

A mass

Populace

Groomed 

For unquestioned 

Consumption

How 

Diabolically

Ironic

To 

Be poisoned

By

Lust 

For the 

Return

of the

Very (ab) Normalcy

That 

Struck 

You ill

To begin with

Convinced

To 

The last

You

(the rest be damned)

Were to 

Be saved

R. O'Neill (March 30, 2021)

What the Hel(smen)?

An inordinate 

Volume 

Of time

And 

Worry

Is afforded

Concern

For

The vessel

Of

One's being

That 

It be lost 

To 

 Tempestuous

Seas

Left impaled

Upon

The rocks

Left 

Bereft and marooned

By

The vicissitudes 

of

Life 

While 

Little or perhaps

No attention

Is 

Given

To 

A ship

Rendered

Rudderless

By indecision..

Apathy or resignation

Such

A vessel

Is left

A prime objective

For 

The opportunist

Seeking

To commandeer 

Just such 

An abandoned

Ship

To be used

For the pursuit

Of 

Their own

Journey

In search

Of 

Adventure, Intrigue and Prosperity

Can one

Then 

Be consoled

Through association 

Receiving

Ample

Vicarious reward

While

Another

Plies the

Distant reaches 

Of 

Their  own 

dreams

Alas such 

Pleasure

Would be hollow

And 

Fleeting

At best

And once

The intrepid

Voyager 

Has reached

The

Shores 

Of his 

Destination

The

Spent remains

Of

His commandeered

Vessel 

Will be scuttled

Far from 

Shore

As it 

Will not serve

Him

(or anyone)

Any further..

R. O'Neill (March 23, 2021)