Confined
By politics
Extreme and
Everyday
Barred
Unbarred
No difference
Constricted
Patterns of
Thought and being
Restricted
By others and
Self
Freed
First from
Within
Lead
Only when
Freed
Barred
Unbarred
No difference
Constricted
Patterns of
Thought and being
Restricted
By others and
Self
Freed
First from
Within
Lead
Only when
Freed
Life renews
Thus even deepest blues
Transform
Become such vibrant hues
Reborn
As hope to those awakening
Crossing terrain and distance
The minutes pass as days once did
For greater men than me
When only Prometheus
Had tested the sky
The land rolls by
All the while stoking awe
Not just for historical men
Bound to Earth
Also for this small speck of stone
This mote of blue
With its invisible billions
In an incomprehensible emptiness
Then, awe too for this small speck of flesh
His hubris of no small magnitude
Believing he matters at all
For the mere fact of knowing his existence
His feeble attempt for eternity
Words released into the twin fantasies
Of consciousness and silicone
An image, too
For us
We have been the prey
Separated from the pack
Divided
Kept down
Exploited
Dominated
Fed upon
By the fat cats
La Solidaritat
La Nostra Millor
Arma
Solidarity
Is our best
Weapon
Run them off
We have the numbers
We have the power
Unsettled
Uncertain
Movement fractured
Undeterred
Unrelenting
Moving forward
Steal moments
From unknown lives
Recorded
For all time
Subjects unaware
But for the occasional eye
Catching me
On my surreptitious perch
At the shutter’s release
Sheepishly
I set the lens aside
And with a nod
Beg forgiveness
For my crime
After so many bricks
And so much mortar
I am beginning to understand
Which is the stronger gesture
Which offers the greatest protection