joshua's modern petition

i've heard it said that the end will come like a thief in the night but i never thought i'd live to tell of it. it came like a swift wind and it was met with open arms. no cohesive resistance was formed by a disillusioned and pacified generation. left mesmerized by flashing images, we are slowly wasting away in our favorite recliners listening to someone tell us the ten steps to fix our broken marriage while our spouse asks to borrow a pen to sign the divorce papers. we are a society of sleepwalking children conditioned to reach for our security blanket at the first sign of conflict. the size of the battle does not matter because we have no war worth fighting. bullets left littering distant deserts are mere substance of myth, some vague recollection from something we were read as kids. we are not armed with guns and grenades at the front lines, instead we fight the evil at the check out lines equipped with coupons and tabloids. the blood spilled on normandy's sand slowly drifts out to sea where the sharks feast on the lost memories. this has evolved into an organism whose sole purpose is to perpetuate its own existence. all foundations are eroding under the weight of fear. marx may be buried under london's streets but the grave cannot keep him at bay. while we sleep the bible belt is altered beyond recognition. they slip in undetected and craftily rearrange the words, "the republic so loved the proletariat that it took complete control and whosoever believeth in it will not die but have everlasting life." we are tolerating ourselves into destruction. our hope lies in this universalized morality to see us through. if this is progress may the sun and the moon become as paralytics in the expanse.

a compressed life placed in a shrinking space

line up and wait patiently. time is irrelevant now. this is the march that transcends borders, an indiscriminate procession that only requires the breath in your lungs. some limp wounded, some stumble blind. some are brave and walk alone. some claim to see through the clouds and some jostle to lead the parade. some run fearlessly to the edge, some dig their heals into the soft soil. i am only a passenger on this spinning merry-go-round. for now i walk on its back but soon i will be under its skin. nothing will be left but the evidence that i was anything but invincible. the end result is all the same. the sky may fall but it will never rust.