Slave to Nature, Escape!

Trevor Lewis

“Slave to Nature, Escape!”

Dear sculptors of conscious thought,
Dear dagger-tongued pacifists,
Dear kittens-in-mittens,

Just because I’ve grown accustomed
to your presence in the mirrors
does not imply that you are welcome.

Are the stars concerned they are misread?

My broken spirit is not apathy;
Nor does my defeatism mean defeat.
When weak one acts strong
and when strong weak.

A man is redeemed the day
that he treads in his own way
otherwise he only knows
the toll that he must to pay.

I am not a man; I am a force.

Dear captains and captives,

You mutually obey
the inescapable interplay
of your respective gravities.

The reverberations
of your amplified silence crash
as waves
upon which floats my raft
where I lay
and gaze
at the misunderstood stars
unfazed.

There are no mirrors here.

I have no name.