an exile in

his own mind

by Roberto Lavidez

one cannot

act without

soiling

one’s hand

the influence

of the

unconscious

mind

in building up

images

assuming

all forms

and adopting

all accents

reveling

in myths

and vain

illusions

the wild

gothic force

of unreason

joined to

a dawning

sense of

disparity

and isolation

quenching

that light

in what is

to man

darkness

an exile

in his

own mind

that man

cannot

avoid one

inconvenience

without

incurring

another

bowing to

no measure

of rationality

morality

or mercy

the similitude

of the

thoughts

and passions

of one man

to the

thoughts

and passions

of another

impeded by

a curious

combination

of racialism

and fear

entering

on an

endless

cycle

in which

cynicism

and violence

encouraged

one another

men in

great numbers

died

not out

of thirst

but because

of poisoned

water

all steeped

in history

and zeitgeist

culminating

in the excesses

of building

a globe

generating

a never-ending

passion to

the death

if it were

a prophecy

it was

a false

prophecy

imitating

a past

that was

supposed

to be

condemned

without

the necessity

of the

intervention

of any

extrinsic force

without

the constant

talk of the

possibility

of bloodshed

the barbarians

at the gate

would all

disappear

into the

censor's

black box

in which

all else

is contained

©robertolavidez2014