And I Ask, What Does It Matter?

Be careful what you ask for

“But lest you are my enemy, I must inquire”

 

I see you now within my mind’s eye

Do you see me, beneath the transcendent lies?

Crystallized. Visualized. Describe as eternity

Eternity of all the lost times, lost lies of “to be”s

You ask me if I care, you know that I do

You ask me if I love, what does it matter to you?

 

Condescending expectations of future and life

Plastic smiles and painted sorrow to disguise

And you ask if I am your enemy, answer truth

Yes, my dear, but what does it matter to you?

Wary eyes of a broken soul, gazing into the night

Glazed by the tears, blurred from clarity’s lie

 

“I’ve seen your face before, my friend, but I don’t know if you know who I am.”

 

Look upon the eyes of doubt and tell me what you see

Gaze into the never ending, stare at all that is to be

What creations can ever catch the beauty of eternity?

When eternity is but a flash or time, a moment of a wink

And still you say you know me and who I am at heart

How can you know me, when you do not know who you are?

 

Tell me, dearest; why you ask for this love you say you need

Do you understand what you ask, what is worth the soul in me?

You ask me if I care for you, but life knows not to comfort

Anticipation for destiny’s future within the lost words

Oh, yes, I know your face, I know who you want to be

But do you remember me? Am I as sketched into your memory?

 

“But first you must learn how to smile as you kill.”

 

I will listen for forever, but hear no changes from you

I will pray to a god conceived by our weak understanding of truth

But do you understand when I speak of such sacrifice?

You strive to win happiness, but you know the cost’s height?

To win the happiness stolen from those who died to earn it

Created from a promise so long ago, by those who deserved it

 

For every dream there is a sacrifice you must accept

But know this, for ever death there is life. There is no end

So if I love and die tomorrow, does that love go void?

Does it mean anything at all to love only to say goodbye?

You must ask yourself the purpose of you, only you can ask

You must answer before you can know me at last

 

“I got thirteen channels of s**t on the TV to choose from.”

 

Contemplate your meanings, your purpose, yours rhymes

I’ll wait with patience whilst you create your alibi

And the lies of all the whys you can never answer

So I wait, and wait creating questions and questions plethora

What do you want? Truth? Lies? How am I to know?

And the tuneless motions of channels play, pray to go

 

If I go, if I’m gone, would you notice my absence then?

You know the answers to all of your petty questions

And the station changes, the meaning fades, the voices rise

Yes, I care, you know I care, but love is just a longer goodbye

What does it matter, so long as I bring the fire alive?

Your questions are water to quench the hunger needed to survive

 

“The candles blew and then disappeared, the curtains flew and then he appeared”

 

So, come on, baby, it’ll all be ok, don’t need you answers

Come and let the fire strive with crystallized visions together

Let all the past be, let the future become on its own time

Don’t worry about the questions to define what’s yours what’s mine

Don’t worry ‘bout the lies, the trying, the dying, the fading away

Because we’re alive now, in the moment of today

 

So ask me again if I care, I can tell you yes for forever

Ask me again if I love, but I need not say, you know the answer

But is there a reason? A reason we’re here at all?

Where is the fire of life I had come to expect in awe?

Lost within the Nomenclature of searching for the answers

Life is in the love of the world, do I love? What does it matter?

 

“Lest you are my enemy, I must inquire”

“Oh no, my dear, let all that be, what matter so there is but fire in you, in me.”

Author's Note

I wrote this a long time ago. When I was a different person with a much worse life.

Read the quotes, it's based off of them. The first one is from
"The Mask" by William Yeats,
the second is from "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins,
the third is from "Workingclass Hero" by John Lennon,
the fourth; "Nobody Home" by Pink Floyd,
fifth; "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult,
and then it goes back to the first, "the Mask" by William Yeats.

Reviews

[asdarkeyesclose]

this was actually very well written. it took me a while to get into it but then I did enjoy it. I think it was a nice idea to build the poem around the quotes and let us see what are iconic lines with a different meaning to them. I thought you did really well with quite a complex idea. My favourite line ' You ask me if I love, what does it matter to you?', I loved the impact of it, biting almost:)

[SuperChick62]

Thanks. You think this was hard to read, my old work was a bear. Thanks for the comment.

[Sasha]

Very nice ..
I enjoyed reading this !

[Miss Marlette]

A very thinking write on love and life. Although I am not very familiar with the quotes but your words say it all beautifully. Thank you for sharing.

[Pryde Foltz]

I think your poem although written years ago, speaks to a universal truth between people. It is a very, very full and rich piece.