The Daydream Assassins

Dream of one sentenced to death by Roberto Aizenberg, 1955

Look all around,

in the crowded parks

on the busy streets

in the packed trains

on the narrow balconies of

cut and paste

tenement blocks.

Search far and wide for

the one looking up

at nothing

doing nothing

not one goddamn thing

but lying on the grass

or sitting on a park bench

or looking out a window

like an idle idiot

a lazy loafer

looking up at

NOTHING

that we

can see,

doing

NOTHING

that we

can see,

maybe staring

at the clouds

in the sky

or

the stars

in the heavens,

or what the fuck?

There's nothing extraordinary

out of the ordinary

IT'S ALL

quite ordinary

whatever is up there

that we cannot see.

We are sure of it.

So why does he do it?

What good does it do?

What money does it make?

Do something, for Christ's sake!

Go someplace!

Look forward

or backward

or down

or at a screen

or into a mirror

or inside the medicine cabinet

if that's what you need.

Just DO something!

Move out with a purpose

any purpose will do

like the rest of us.

But looking up?

And at

NOTHING

in particular?

NO.

THIS.

WILL!

NOT!

DO!

So come now

good people!

Grab his attention

and drag him back

DOWN

to where he belongs,

DOWN

with the rest of us,

and do it now

FOR HIS OWN GOOD

before anyone else

wakes up.

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