I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCMXO9sBIcU

I spend a lot of my time with both eyes open

Trying to absorb some hidden message within the cogs and gears that compose this world.

As if in understanding the cogs I might better understand the machine

Although, I am no engineer and the message if there really is any at all

Eludes me every time.

In this world there is so much to see

Too much in fact.

So much so that I often find myself drifting in it all

Less so the observer

And more the pebble being pushed along a stream.

The more I’m pushed the less I seem to care

And am eventually caught in some apathetic disdainful state of despair

That I imagine those living in this world’s biggest cities succumb to every day.

But my god within this stream amongst the pebbles and rocks

Being bumped along just like me

Are nuggets of gold, rubies, and sapphires

That make the current even just for a few moments

Shine with all the colors of the stars.

I don’t know if there’s a message in that

After all Precious Stones don’t just fall into existence

And yet there they are

In all of their solemn brilliance

In all of their color

They creep along the river bed just as I do.

What I wouldn’t give to shine like them

To shed my rocky and confused exterior

Like a crab from his exoskeleton.

I can only hope that if I were to emerge from that

My own color might begin to seep through

And so I toughen and shed

Toughen and shed

All the while keeping both eyes open

Not so to understand the current or the stream

Or to catch sight of my own color

But because people like that

Make me feel like I’m waking

From some never ending dream

And for just that instant

The stars no longer seem

like cogs spinning

within the machine.

Author's Note

Wrote this tonight after a few cans of Guinness

Reviews

[Stan Lee]

I like the metaphor and I absolutely agree with the sentiment. Without those precious stones of people this would be just a machine rapidly grinding itself to destruction. The precious stones make it a world that goes around. Lovely write. Thanks for sharing Ookpik.

[Ookpik]

Glad you liked it :)

[I Am Svetlana]

It takes time in order to truly understand what colors we are, but it's always okay if we seem unsure. A powerful write here and might I ask, what are cogs? As you've mentioned in your poem, it seemed to throw me off a bit through the beginning as you referred to them...I also really enjoyed the format, it really helped bring this together!

[thaleeyaLuna]

I loved this! Apart from it giving me a deep sense of wonder within the world, it also made me remember those things about the world I wondered before.
I like the words you chose for this poem - creative as always. Good job! :)

[Ookpik]

Hey thank you, I was inspired by some of your work when organizing the format, thank you for the review : )

[thaleeyaLuna]

Really? Wow, that's awesome. :)