deer life

by Roberto Lavidez

life is

too short

the book

is too long

riddled with

repetitions

unintentional

rhymes

jangles

even solecisms

a vast

progressive

tide of

humanity

symptomatic

of the

degradation

of energies

but like all

bad stuff

it is conjured

with eagerness

and passion

deluding us

into thinking

that we are

in control of

our choices

as cynical reality

steadily usurps

and degrades

the main character

divesting him

of his once

rampant

creativity

by the

imposition

of a

universal diet

in which

colors

are made

uniform

locked

into rhythms

of the

native ennui

unable

to generate

an understanding

of who you are

and where

you are

in the world

the look

a combination

of fear

confusion

and chagrin

on the

author’s face

told the

whole story

like distant

echoes on

the wind

of reported

history

pretending

to be not

alarmed

by its

apparent

incomprehensibility

the unwillingness

to embrace

experiment

which might

contribute

shock waves

and celebrate

the stubborn

ambiguity of

unpleasant

things

what is radical

and pure

becomes

tainted and

familiar

sees changes

as threat

denouncing it

as obnoxious

repugnant

detestable

repulsive

revolting

as a

claustrophobic

nightmare

the reticence

and constraint

makes him

a remnant of

a vanished age

he is frozen

in panic

like a deer

caught in the

headlights

of an

oncoming

truck

©robertolavidez2014