Shallow Waters

Apathetic care drags wholesomeness down the dangerous creek

where waters rage powerfully against the incumbent pillars of rock.

Sultry demonstrations here and now crack the hold of hands

that have grasped with whitening knuckles their given power.

Emotionally jaundiced and caprice ridden youngsters in their aging prime

refuse to sacrifice their voices or to be hidden behind,

in the land of pay-to-be-innocent amid torrents of guilt

we stand shackled beneath, willingly subservient to the greed.

When I was more youthful I’m certain the waters didn’t roil

quite as badly as they do today under the imminent storm.

Maybe that’s because I cared less for the mortality we all face

and less still what tomorrow would bring as I sat there

comfortably chemically saturated in oceans of ambiguity.

Or I hadn’t met the right woman to turn my mind open to the world

plagued by self-indulgent hypocrisy that sets teeth on edge.

Someone merciless and loving enough to place growth

and expansion of knowledge ahead of the safety of a comfort zone

and the false sense of security that it provided.

Because the walls are collapsing around that shaded isle.

Where once no harm could befall us, we are now beset

by the kinds of animals that know only one definition—predatory.

We’re coming to the end, and there are no further shallow waters,

we’ve been standing in them and cooling our feet, for far too long.