Effigy
Late at night I hear the monkey’s laughing in the jungle
They are burning an effigy
And they find it more than amusing
They find it comforting.
They built it out of broken dreams and green cards.
It was no accident that they built it
The moon and the tides gave them no choice
As it burns the night screams
And I wait for the dawn.
Tenuous as it may be I can wait
For I am still taking apart my nightmares
And putting them on the workbench to toil over
To reassemble and to ponder
I never read the instructions I just go with my gut.
As I look through the trees I see the burning light
And I wonder why it looks familiar to me.
What will the ashes tell the seer?
He was a man who lived liked an animal?
He was anonymous to feelings and life.
Atavistic to the end, destined to die but never to live.
Up river they all seem to know the truth
It’s simple: keep the primates happy
And they will leave your soul alone.
I hang my head out of a window and howl at the moon
She smiles back benign and hopeful
I think about the other side; cold and dark
And then I realize the fire in the jungle is to drive away my fear
And it all makes sense.
Copyright © Stephen Kilmer | Year Posted 2013
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