The Invisible Man
Feb 27 2022
Would anything change
if my internet was cut
TV unplugged
the papers cancelled?
Does my knowing really matter?
Are my concern, anguish, angst
just to make me feel engaged?
Either that, or self-righteously smug;
a sensitive man
who feels your pain.
I am an informed voter, responsible adult
yet accomplish nothing.
Because the world keeps on turning
without me;
the greed
and the powers that be,
the arc of history
that seems to be speeding to its end
faster and faster
without my help.
So I have retreated
to a small cabin in the woods,
where daily life
is enough to exhaust me;
food, shelter, water
and keeping the fire fed.
The company of dogs,
and old books
I will read again,
gleaning the wisdom
I've either forgotten or missed.
Like a landless peasant
after the fields have been cropped,
scrabbling for grain, and orphaned potatoes,
bruised fruit
before it rots.
Because less is more
and scarcity makes thing sweeter.
Because there is too much to know,
and I have been demoralized
by my futility.
A sabbatical, escape, defeat?
Or a realization
that I am better off withdrawing;
that distance
cannot make an invisible man
any less seen.
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