The waiting room, waiting.

A cold light's kiss 

rests upon my pale, 

polished skin as a blanket would,

in a windowless room, 

populated with plastic chairs 

and particle board tables. 

A greying man reads 

about a yacht he will never own, 

no matter how well he registers 

his credits and debits.

And to think that every man 

may rise above this mediocrity, 

is to consider us all equal 

to the challenge, regardless 

of means or merit, 

when the deep, dark truth is: 

some of us are meant to drown.

Man's greatest flaw is arrogance. 

We will the kingdom of god to be less 

than what our imperfect hands can create.

Out into the night, our lights fight back 

the once peaceful, slow ease of darkness,  

with the clamor and bustle of movement. 

Rubber tires, rubber soles on rubber shoes.

I don't remember the feel of cold, 

wet earth between my toes. 

My socks are water resistant,

they wick away inconvenient happenstance, 

replace it with room temperature, 

comfortable, lifeless control. 

Katrina proved the unthinkable.

The kingdom of god is still unsympathetic 

to our powerful, persuasive unimportance.

And all the science in the world 

can't change the ability of water 

to swell to thirty feet and break 

on our fragile drift wood homes, 

pulling the debris out to sea. 

Philo knew the Logos,

as did all prescientific minds

before the pursuit of progress

revealed an unrelenting truth:

All came from the dust 

and all return to the dust.

We are fractured now, 

a doctored, rehabilitating whole 

on this green earth where

in the wake of eventuality, 

even the highest mountains are laid low 

by a soft rain and simple breeze. 

Author's Note

Please leave a review with helpful thoughts or edits!

Reviews

[Bare trees]

As humans we are miniscule parts of a whole. Some are 'meant to drown' is a harsh but legitimate view on those most ignorant, of which there are many. Even those who believe in a higher presence are guilty of forgetting his power.

This is a poem to contemplate. Well done.

[Valentine]

A very deeply thought out write. I like the way this reads. Valentine

[Madison O'Dwyer]

WOW. Just wow. So many striking philosophies weaved together, observations of life.
This is a great piece!

[Cassie]

I don't like the fact of that deep dark truth that some of us are meant to drown, I really like this one also especially the last stanza, good job once more Brett.

[aria]

So good. Really, what I think but can't manage to say.

Jacob is right. It should be: Man's greatest flaw is arrogance.

Other than that, pretty perfect.

The stuff about the man in the waiting room with the Yacht mag is really good.

My favorite lines are:

when the deep, dark truth is:
some of us are meant to drown.

Perhaps we should spend all our meager moments here on this earth in awe.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

before there were humans...there was earth, before that just water...we really are pretty insignificant...

and we are often reminded by natural disasters...but we sure get swelled heads, don't we.

again very insightful writing. beginning of third stanza..did you mean "man's greatest flaw"?

really got into this..

[Robbie~xoxo~]

Such scary moments during that time... Katrina truly took a toll on many...
The threat of this happening again is enough to cause anxiety...

You have written a poignant piece... Well done!

~Robbie

[Quill~]

Katrina's tirade of atrocities virtually wiped out the land and homes of many. I feel the spirit of "resilience" in your words as you end this piece with a calm voice in the aftermath,"waiting" to pick up the pieces. A poignant write.