Fools in the Dark

A warning against investing too much thought into life.

See them stumble

Laughing as they fall

Screaming and shouting

With no sense of tomorrow

And no memory of yesterday

 

That’s all right

Those things are either already done with

Or still completely, sweetly intangible

Of no concern to the fools in the dark

 

The fire, so graceful in its dance

Warms the cool night

And calls out to the rowdy fools

They come near, warming their hands and their hearts

With the flames and with the felicity of their own laughter

 

Distance from oppression

Detachment from sorrow

These malign figments ebb away into the night

Amid the ritualistic sacrificing  of inhibitions

 

Fear cast into the flames and turned to smoke

With such subtle grace

To think, it’s always been this easy

To free the soul and mind

 

Just reach out and grab the good times

Hold them in the palm of your hand

Watch them wash away the blisters

And the scars

 

Forget all woes

For they are outside of the night

In some other world

Apart from the moon and the stars and the beautiful blackness of the sky

 

Nothing is relevant save for this night

Let the celebration commence

Embarrassment and hatred have left the vicinity

We are free to be fools

 

We are free

Reviews

[Roxie M]

Well said...well written...wisdom shared upon our guilty heads. I know the message, I understand the delivery, but I ponder motivation of the poet. Is this a warning or is it irony? As I began, well said...well written...wisdom shared.

[Zachary E. Tenney]

The poem is essentially about not dwelling too much on the past or worrying about the future, instead choosing to seek contentedness in the present. Because there really isn't any future or past, at least not that our senses can perceive. Each moment we live is the present. So by the time the "future" arrives, it is no longer the future, but the present. Therefore, by simply living a life devoted to being happy in the present, we will always be happy because it is always the present.

[Zachary E. Tenney]

Also, thank you kindly for your praise and for taking the time to read and review.

[Roxie M]

The present, the gift. Thank you so much for your further comment, they are a helpful to me.