subtext

• •

Reality Check

Where do we go from here?

An implied past purpose,
As if here arrived
On schedule
Riding in a pumpkin coach.

A more pressing question
Presents itself in opposition
To these futuristic obsessions:

How did we get here?

What circuitous route
Turned our wheel
To this position:
A yes, a no,
A drive to believe
In the righteousness of our response;

Or tied to the rack
Our balance wanes
Into a renewed spin,
Until our lives rattle like a ball
Dancing from one allotted
Slot to another never quite
Coming to rest before being
Snatched up and tossed again.

(September 2011)