Wednesday, November 25, 2015

United Serfs of America

The ground growls like a lions roar The air is scented with gun oil Automated birds hum silently above Like an eagle stocking it's prey We sing freedom Fog of war creeps through our concrete jungle in darkness Gravel trembles as rubble closes in Rain falls from silent birds stinging and blinding us We sing freedom Community stands undivided Cannon barrels peek around building corners and blast bleach infected water We fall but are picked up by faith and heart We sing freedom Rubber shots scream from rooftops and flash bangs surrounds us. Yet we still hear urban rubber soles stomp toward us Our ears and noses bleeding Our hearts cry freedom Blurry figures behind shields with batons emerge before us Gas masked faces and layered plated body armor divides humanity from an industrial complex Silence stuns the air as a moment of clarity enlightens us Our minds chant freedom

Part 1

Sitting in my chair from which my mind flows from my fingers to my keys I notice my eyes drowning with exaustion and they grow oh so heavy and I catch myself nodding off constantly when I hear a tapping at my window. At my window a tapping grows ever so annoying and I must see what this tapping at my window would be. I approach my window from which this tapping grows louder and stop just before my window to listen to the tapping. Listening to this tapping on my window I try to deserve what this tapping is coming from. I open my window from which this tapping is disturbing my minds work and a large Raven saunters in through the now silent window and perches himself on my sill. Some moments of silence pass as I grow intrigued by this bird of nusense and I ask, "Why hath you disturb me this eve great Raven?" I look in my mind and see that I have asked an animal a question that obviously is unable to answer aloud because after all, animals cannot speak to us. Nevertheless, I repeat myself with a more stern tone just in case by chance he would learn language instantly. "Why hath thee disturbed me this eve O great Raven?" The large Raven shuffles a bit and this time surprises me. This time he surprises me with the gift of speech which I was always under the impression that we humans were the only species gifted with. "It is time. I am your undead and it is time for your journey." The massive Raven replied. I am stupefied by this. What is this I think to myself. What is this speaking before me? A talking bird? He hops down off my window sill and walks over to the door and waits for me. An image is painted in my head of this great Raven as his tauney scaly foot scratches at my door. A hissing screeching sound emits from his talons as they dig into my oak door leaving deep gouges in it with light falling from the damage. "Where would you have me go at this hour my dear undead?" I say. As if preprogrammed or just annoyed by all my questions he replies simply by repeating what he has already said. "Its time for your journey and we must go. No more questions. It is time and we must go." I walk to my door and as I am about to open it this great, undead Raven pecks at my foot and skulks at me in a loud quick tone. "Why hath thee attempt to hurt me O undead Raven of me?" I say shockingly. He simply states, "I said no more questions." As I begin to open my den door to navigate my very familiar flat I notice a cold breeze entering my den and this confuses me as I see moonlight breaching my den room. How is this possible? How has sight returned to me? I dare not ask the Raven, this undead massive Raven in fear of losing a toe. Am I dreaming? This is a dream for certain. I must be dreaming although I can feel the wind on my skin, the moonlight on my face yet I can see the man in the moon watching over me and Ravens wondering about the fields and trees. The trees, giant old growth oak trees and tall unkept wild grass growing for what seems to be a centuries worth of time and a pathway winds its way through this thick fertile landscape. "Where hath I entered? Surely this cannot be my homestead. Where hath thee taken me? I spoke from the shock of sight and this odd environment when I am interrupted by a sharp beak pecking at my foot once again. "Questions, questions that you ask I grow tired of. No more questions Darragh, questions nevermore." He sharply says to me. "Forevermore my dear undead, forevermore." I mockingly reply to the Raven hoping he doesn't remember his ancestor wrapping at someones chamber door. Praying he doesn't jab at me once more with his aged beak, praying he doesn't make me weep this journey forevermore.I look beyond the tall green grass into the trees from which deep within I see a greenish white glow. Fireflies surround us shining light upon us as we walk closer to the pathways entrance. More fireflies rest atop the tall grass blades along the trail as if signifying and illuminating the path set before us. We begin our journey or what is to be my journey as the great Raven so delicately put it. After all, from every tale or story I have read the guide always departs before journey's end and so I know that this undead bird must hold the same fate. "I am your soul keeper Darragh and my only task is just that. Your soul is what matters and how you perceive what it is you're about to see. I can interpret what it is you will see and what were the causes of such pain and suffering from which you have dreamt of in years past." I am confused by what this Raven has told me and as I think of how to phrase a question without discipline I am quickly distracted by the sight in the not to far distance. Weaving our way through the tall lusciousness grass from which the fireflies light, we approach the tree line of the oak trees. Tall themselves and old they miniturise their surroundings. Resting ravens perch upon their branches frozen in time. All seem much smaller than my undead friend and I ponder their reason. "They are not yet assigned Darragh. They have no guardianship as of yet unlike the ones we are coming up on." He says as if reading my mind. It would seem I need not ask questions aloud for he is my soul keeper so it must be that he is apart of me. I gaze outward from our path and see wonderers. These people seem lost. Ragged and torn from their own reality they graze on my thoughts. Each of which have their own raven either flying above circling or riding their souls shoulders. I seem to recognize these people immediately. Past acquaintances and friends that since have not shared my mind or love. Wondering about looking for something that they don't even know what to look for. Slouching, dirty, and ungroomed past associates and friends glare at me as we pass. One in particular approaches the pathways edge unable to set foot in my path and stares at me. "Are you here for me? Are you here to release me?" He asks me confusingly but I can't help him. "What art thous name and business sir?" I ask the grungy man. "I am Sam Darragh. Have you no recollection of your best friend from years ago?" He asks me in a higher tone echoing through the thick nights air. "Sam? Of course, now I remember Sam from years ago. What fate have you become?" I appear interested but really I just want to move on as the glow catches my attention more so. "I am lost for eternity Darragh. I am lost eternally awaiting for thee to free me." He replies saddened by his own realization. "Tell me Sam, who is it to be that you need to free thee? He simply says with almost a drone tone, "You. Tis you Darragh." I am perplexed by his response as silence overcomes me. "Tell me Sam, what tis the green light from. Over there," as I point to the oak trees glowing green properties. "do you see? The green light from within the forrest?" "No, no. You must not venture to the castle Darragh for you will be lost forever. Forever in your mind lost with no hope for retreat. You must not go there!" He says nervously and never setting his gaze with mine towards the oak forrest. "I must Sam. I must see what lies within." I say with assurance. "My soul keeper will guide me but what of yours Sam? "Soul keeper? Don't you know Darragh? It is your own mind which has dispatched this so called soul keeper." As I sort out these odd proclivities, I feel a nudge against my side from my soul keeper. "We must move along Darragh. your journey is long and time is only infinite. We must move along." As I am walking away I pause and turn to look at Sam once more and see the look of concern washing over his face then he turns his back to me and wonders off again into his eternal realm that is to be lost. I continue down the pathway towards the oak forrest and as the fireflies recede and fade out the grass grows shorter and shorter until bare grounds are exposed and the tall grass is no more. The only light that remains is that from the glow within the forrest. An erie soft green glow highlights the ground which we walk and a scent of death looms in the air. The ground becomes moist as we close in on the tree line . Wet and sticky beneath our feet as we walk, it sounds like a plunger freeing pipes clogged or a suction cup on a wet window pane freeing itself. We descend slightly downward toward the trees as I catch the first glimpse which caught my attention earlier as I spoke with Sam. "What is this?" I shockingly ask my Raven. "You cannot see or is it you do not wish to see. Your thoughts are laid out before you Darragh. What is it you see then?" He forces me to look upon the ghastly sight from my own apparent thoughts. Souls bound naked by rusty chains of raw tongues to rugged ancient oak trees. Forever pummeled by gusts of wind so cold every particle seems as miniature frozen needles. And their eye lids are being eaten by their soul keeper that mocks them as the cold stabs their eyes. And the oak covered with aged barbed bark piercing their backsides. Standing in shallow trenches at the base of the oaks gathering, a pool of their tainted blood to which they stand in for eternity. Their sticky dark plasma soils the ground where we walk and as I look up towards the oaks tree top I see something that I was not prepared. A glow surrounding the branches and leaves. An energy confounded to the giant oak trees. Souls locked within as the trees feed off their seeping blood. As they remain chained to these trees the oaks grow bigger and taller the longer they are bounded at their base. "You wouldn't be who and where you are today without these souls Darragh" The raven says to me and continues on explaining, "Fear not for they can no longer see. Their eyes removed by your pain, the pain and fowl vulgarities they spoke once of you. Their fate was sealed once their minds closed the world out. They are lost but their memories remain. Remain lingering about for eternity. Your eternity Darragh. They are what drives you and you see this don't you?" I am first reluctant to believe that I am keeping them from moving on but then I realize what the Raven has told me. It is clear now and I feel not for them as they feed me. Quench my minds thirst for the understanding of this world and the people walking its surface. "Yes O'Raven, I see. I see that they are on a lower level and that they support my habit. A habit which I contracted from their ill will”. A gift or curse I am unsure but I continue upward as they remain stranded, stuck running circles around in their bubble. To be continued…