526. Coliseum

I long to write, though who will listen,

To the rantings of the insane?

The title merely grants invisibility;

And a face without a name,

In the coliseum of civility.

I wander through the crowds,

In the stands, where spectators watch,

As warriors and politicians,

Earn another scar or notch,

In the holding of their positions.

I stretch my hands out for scraps,

As they shoo me out of sight;

Though from here I see it all,

And know that none of this is right…

And soon all of us will fall.

Be it by starvation, wound, or pride.

We are all part of the show.

I may seem but a distraction,

Yet I’ve gone where others can not go;

And seen every angle of inaction.

For they play their parts quite well,

And the world moves to their plans.

I’ve seen every move and collapse,

As money changes hands,

And they fall in the same traps.

From the outside, I look in,

Year after year…Sin after sin.

I hold my voice, and hold my breath.

No one’s listening, so who can win?

We stand aside until death.

I look at you. Do you see me?

Are you looking? What do you see?

God’s play games, as day absconds.

Are you a God, or are you me?

Do you play games with human pawns?

For who can win an endless game?

And who can fight our mortal fate?

Though, in my eyes you’d find the sun,

So listen well, it’s getting late.

This entertainment is not fun!

And this game you can not win!

The only money, worth it, to spend,

Is found in the outstretched hand.

For the show continues long after curtain descends…

And only in the heart of another could you understand,…

All we have is each other in the end.

K. Aldaya, 10/7/20

Picture: By: Jorge Fernandez Salas on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/hvxJ2cnecd4

490. The Zoo

photo-1505924384154-1e782437ace7

Monkey swing across the bars.

Monkey see. Monkey do.

You are but one tiny speck,

Inside a cosmic zoo.

Play the part and socialize.

Be the best you can be;

As long as you don’t mope ’bout,

Or wish that you were free.

Entertain. Live and fit-in.

Walk in rounds ’til you’re sick.

Don’t wonder ’bout breaking out.

Fighting instinct’s tragic!

Monkey swing across the bars.

Monkey blind. Monkey sad.

If you’re mere biology,

Existing should make you glad.

Monkey swing…

…Monkey fall.

K. Aldaya, 9/11/19

Picture: By: Chris Yang on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/4CZ4lZGX53g

479. System Overload

Feeble…Faint…

It’s not real…not real;

Yet your legs have grown weaker,

Finding it best not to feel.

Panic…Pain…

The illusion clears.

No one’s coming to save you.

There is no use for those tears.

Terror…Fear…

That pain in your chest…

It tells you it’s not over.

For a victim, there’s no rest.

Horror…Loss…

There’s no going back.

The program’s installed…running…

And insanity’s the hack.

Empty…Numb…

A system with eyes,

Which carries out instructions…

As it’s humanity dies.

K. Aldaya, 7/10/19

Picture: From Humans; Emily Berrington as Niska; https://giphy.com/gifs/experience-amc-humans-sXhM9f1UIgYW4

469. Life is a Sick Joke

With good intentions we build,

Lives from dust and ash;

And cling to those walls we build,

As it all goes up in smoke.

For winds change in a flash…

And life is a sick joke.

Build walls high, and build them strong.

Shelter, live, and love with hope.

The storms of time follow along,

Waiting to blow it up in smoke.

There is no reason to curse or hope.

Life’s merely a sick joke.

We erect upon the graves of the lost,

With ashes of hope and remorse.

The ancients’ tears: aren’t they too high a cost,

For our hands to so heedlessly provoke?

As no matter what chart we may course.

Life’s ever a sick joke.

With good intentions we build,

Our lives from bones and breath;

And fight hard, as if the strong-willed,

Won’t burn in flames they stoke.

There is no rhyme to life or death.

It’s all just a sick joke.

K. Aldaya, 2/26/19

468. Step By Step

…And step by step all the birds in the sky,…

Fly by…fly by…

…And hour by hour the hands of the clock,…

Tic-tok…tic-tok…

…And day by day, time flies on and away,…

Away…away…

…And year by year there’s death, then birth,…

On Earth…on Earth…

…And why on why, thoughts built on and on,…

Then gone…then gone…

…And step by step all the birds in the sky…

Fly by……..

Fly by………….

K. Aldaya, 2/19/19

Gif: From Giphy. Original Source: http://radicalblogofawesomeness.blogspot.com/2011/03/shadow-puppets.html?m=1