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  • Writer's picturePaul D. Wilke

The Daydream Assassins



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's up there

that we cannot see.


So then 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 a mirror

or in the medicine cabinet


if that's what you need


just 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 of the world!

Grab his attention

and yank him back

DOWN

to where he belongs

with the rest of us

and do it now

FOR HIS OWN GOOD

before anyone else wakes up.




 


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