GREAT ESCAP[E

Arrhythmia has rolled down

and settled on our last days,

so for all the beginnings,

there are no means, and

the ends fade like freedom

into the shadow of

distant trees.

Our garish laughter,

tainted by neon,

paints a clown face

to hide our terror.

Mirth rings hollow

Down the hallways

and mingles with

electronic games played

by myopic children

whose destruction is

reflected in their fat faces.

At home, I read a book about

events that did not happen

to people who never lived

in a place I’d like to be.

Think about the wind in my hair

and the road under my feet

Pinch my wife as she passes…

She says:

“You better watch it.”

So that’s what I do.

Reviews

[M]

I loved your opening image, Vol. Our world seems out of rhythm in many ways. Society has changed dramatically as we have journeyed into a deeper technological age. Simple pleasures of play and reading have been replaced by video games and robotic behaviours and the chasm between generations and the lives they enjoyed is only growing wider. Your ending is quite witty and the wisdom in your wife's warning could well be prophetic. I enjoyed your musing here.

[Vol]

Makhabat,
Thank you for your review. In the wild and wooly sixties, we were already aware that technology was outpacing wisdom,that things were not right, so we became Hippies, tried on new clothes and failed. I find the results to be a kind of tragic irony. And these poor folks of the following generations must one day look back on these as "the good ole days."
Vol

[DIVYA]

The probable future of those children fills me with terror. They've never felt the wind in their hair or the road under their feet. They know little of seasons and have never felt the rain pelt their skin. Technology gripped them before they could learn to think for themselves and talk. "Mirth rings hollow Down the hallways" -I loved that line...

[Vol]

Divya,
Thank you for this review... You remind me of a series of news reports from about 12 or 15 years ago concerning "executive thinking." It seems there is a very narrow window when children learn the skill of organizing and directing their own activities. The reports were lamenting the fact that so many children have all their activities planned by parents and coaches.