Preamble: At 7:00 on August 22, I was sitting in Malelani Cafe in Ventor, NJ (right outside of Atlantic City). Sipping my tea, I listened to a friend of mine recount her gullibility. I considered it rather charming, what with her belief in the good and truthful intentions of others; however, the other person present scoffed at what she considered to be naivete. Suddenly, like a barrel of coffee beans, I was hit with inspiration. I immediately grabbed a pen and wrote a few lines on a napkin. I showed it to my cousin, who reckoned I ought to rewrite it so it was legible and read it later that evening during the open-mike night being held at the cafe. I obliged and tweaked it a bit. Here is an even more "revamped" version. Please excuse the crappy rhyming scheme; I didn't have much time to work out anything more complex - my muse is awfully flighty.
Ode To A Modern World
Cynicism is the new chic
While idealism languishes among meek
Beauty and purity had their day
Now, Grim Reality begs to have its say
This is a Modern World painted in shades of brown and grey
The new verses
Watch them ride in hearses
Decked out with blasphemous curses
But who am I to judge?
Through this uncanny valley I will still trudge
Knowing full well that it was not for this our ancestors had lunge
What is real?
It isn't this meal
Of unspoken dreams
Invisible, like laser breams
Spelling out, "Nothing Is What It Seems."
Could it be?
Are you talking to me?
Or it is your imaginary friend?
At least you know He'll stick with you until the end
And He won't remind you of the wounds which do not mend
The sirens speak of a future bleak
Where mercy is practiced only by the weak
A banner reads, "Welcome To A World Where Meaning
Is Not What People Seek."
We live, we die, we do what we may
In a Modern World colored in shades of brown and grey
