Michael Carroll Green

I do not seek comfort
	in your fables and your myths.
Would that I could.

Such succor is not for me,
	nor for many others like me - 
We See!

	Too clearly, perhaps.
Too near the truth to find comfort in falsehoods,
	no matter how carefully constructed
and compelling.

Complexity is often more a function of time;
	and over thinking,
than it is of truth.

I could take a ruse most base, 
	and replay it through a thousand generations.
Building it with stories and praise...

And when it was over, the world would cry and sing! 
	Sit in awe of my indescretion!	
See it now! See it! Believe it.

Amazing.
	We are adaptable, if nothing else!

i’ve seen the end of life before.
	never easy - 
		Neither is it pretty.
Because life tries!
	Holds tight!
Life works so hard to keep itself -
	Burns bright!
		even when the flesh gives in,
			Life tries!

Standing Outside.

I come from places you’ve never seen,
	except perhaps out of the corner of your eye.

Places you cannot imagine,
	except when your dreams turn to nightmares
and sleep cannot contain them.

Ever the struggle - 
	and ever more the pain.

Never knowing comfort;
	a terminal refrain.

Time flies,
	and still we pause to play.

Friends die,
	and still we seek delay.

Bathe my brain in hormones -
	let the chemicals run free.

I hope to change my outlook,
	or maybe who I aim to be!

It is not that who I was, was wrong;
	Not wasted, nor unwell.

It was only that my model cried
	for a story it could tell.

i should wish for something simple!
	something easy; something sane - 

i should hope for something common -
	fed by Fire as well as Flame.

Breathe now.

	This is birth. 

Be excited - 

	The world is new - all about learning.

All about life!

Look around you - 

	See. This is sight,

Hear with your ears!

	Touch, taste, tempt flesh

with the scent of sinfulness.

	Sin?

Who threw sin in?

	Ruined an otherwise easy birth

by drawing darkness into life!

	Setting nature against itself

with a series of odd foibles, fables and falsehoods 

	designed to play upon the weaknesses

that are Basic to the design.

So let's try again now!

	Regain innocence!

Reduce sinfullness to the falsehood that it REALLY is!

	Re-live life, 

		and discover that within the 

New truth, 

	lies Rebirth!

Sometimes, when edits fail,
	the only answer is a rewrite.

Something -
	All new .

	New thought; new lines -
new thinking.

Something -
	Rethought!

Something Stronger,
	with characters more developed.

A protagonist, maybe -
	with less character flaws,
		and more personality.

And support -
	Yes. Support. 

Supporting characters, that’s it!

	Characters with more flair
		and more conflict to fill the story.

This is serious business, after all.

Readers want drama,
	Watchers want wonder!

Something stronger -
		Striking! 

More Romantic!
	More Tragic!

Something sweeter,
	Something bitter - 

Something Better,
	but with enough drama to drive ticket sales.

Reality.

Is it harder to be who everyone thinks you are, 
	or who you know you are?

Harder to live within the perceptions of the world,
	or within the wholeness of your heart?

And what is right? Where is Truth?
	Who is best served - more adjusted; 
less insane?

I know a truth that is impossible.
	Unreal.

And yet it IS the truth.
	IS real. Reality.

For more than half a century, 
	this truth has lived in darkness -

Removed from Reality
	in the hope that it might fade with the passing of time.

But nothing is so simple. No heart, no hope, no truth.

And reality? 

Doesn’t matter, really.

Because when the rain comes, truth remains - 
	an inconvenient honesty left dripping on the porch.

	Used to be, we did things just  because we wanted to.
Now we do them because we think it might be the last time 
	we get the chance...

	Used to be, we traveled to discover...
Now we do it “before we die.”

	Used to be, we did everything we wanted to...
Now, we simply wish - 
	Mostly for more time.

Used to be, we wished for perspective.
	Now we try to escape it.

Used to be, we wanted all the time in the world.
	Now, we want it all back.

Times change.

Fresh!

I want a new start -

            smart!

I want more! So much more.

 To be free -

            Free of limits,

and ignorance

Bad blood will out itself -
Even children feel it!
Some lightly, and others deeply -
Darkly!

Will we all fade together then -
	when the day lies broken at our feet,
		and the hearts of all the true believers
			have turned to dust in the low light of sunset?

Will we weep blood, and favor sin,
	when the dark dreams of hatefulness
		come full circle to lead us into the pale paths of a new purity;
			one unbound, and unbridled by the rules of God!

Will we seek something beyond ourselves -
	Hoping all at once for some insight into insanity?	
		Or shall we hope to find some secret truth to save ourselves -
some way to build ourselves back
	into some semblance of civilization?

Will we wander through the wasted land -
	taking truth inside ourselves instead of sharing it?
		Or will we work to bring salvation 
	into the sights of our children - 
			seeking to recover hearts and minds 
	in some future now unseen!