Trivia Night

Trivia Night I follow every backroad and freeway to see where they lead And I look to the pages learned people read I look at all the flea market uniquities and antiques, And the things they’re liquidating at the chains and boutiques Wandering from the courtyards to the streets I seek both patterns and something I haven’t already seen I read all the footnotes to all the entries in the reference row I look up all the words, allusions, and phrases foreign people know Hoping to shriek more articulately So someone will come get me. I listen to all I can tune in on the dial I read articles in today’s file, looking for the truth among the ruins in the pile, But all I want to know is if Anne Frank still believes in mankind. And if I just knew that, it would be worth everything I’ve learned to find Maybe it’s the one thing I might never learn; An insight nobody can earn or deserve And I may never get ahead of the game Or worse, I’ll find out it’s all the same; it’s just arbitrary rules to blame Just another answer on trivia night. But it doesn’t keep me from this plight, I may find it one day, I cling to a slight chance there, That it will be more than worth it all if just that one answer I might realize Even if there isn’t a prize.