We are sad sacks

We are sad sacks

Brooding in silence

The lack of company

Sitting alone

In the dark

Striking a light

Without a candle

Do we choose

To remain in isolation.

There is a moral imperative

To breathe

Who said that?

Is it a rule

We must obey

When the shaven-headed warriors

Curse the need for them

Even as they read the news

Less factual.

It is a choice

The withdrawal

Until one day we find

The will to engage

Has been eroded

A communal animal

Stripped of its need

To perform

Conform to expectation.

The madness of sanity

In a chaotic world

The upside-down-ness

Of success

The destruction

Of innocence.

Is a life’s work

For the autocrat

Without a compass

Every time we say goodbye

There is a moment

When I wonder

If we will meet again.

It is incitement

To follow the path

But not just any path

How many roads

Must I follow

Before I find

My way back home.