Being Human - Poem

Being Human

Darkness swarms like a blanket of bees around me
Paralysing me, creating a statue in the human form
Waiting to feed off my decaying carcass, like a vulture circling its wounded prey
Flesh and bones, nothing more than a pile of flesh and bones
My eyes frozen in time
Windows to the soul shrouded in lifelessness and the brutal reality of humanity
A small glimmer of light obscured by the worthless destruction of the human race and the planet as a whole
Every breath racks my body
Watching, standing helpless as a ticking time bomb waits patiently to explode
Strands of life extinguished just as a leaf in autumn crumbles to nothing more than dust in the palm of the hand
The ashes of a life scattered across the land
Pleasure and pain forged together locked in an unbreakable bond
Blue skies devoured by haunting black clouds
Velvet in texture, hiding the sun, the moon and the stars
Bitterness invades even the purest person
Society fractured into menacing shards
Warriors and soldiers nothing more than boys in men’s clothes
A material uniform offering status but no barrier against guns, knives and bombs
Humanity becomes a sacred word
Words become weapons that pierce the skin, leaving behind deep ragging scars
Love turns to hate, peace to war, happiness to anger
Poison seeping through every single pore
No one is adverse to this hatred
The rules get broken without a second thought or glance
Suddenly black and white becomes a bold bright colour
We can all pretend not to be affected but underneath bubbling away it is there
Waiting to show its ugly inhuman face
Even the kindest happiest person has a shadow that rises and falls over their soul
Waiting, taunting, to emerge like the rising sun on the brightest of days
Red blood tainted with evil, misguided loyalties, decay
Death becomes common place
Life drained away pooling around the feet of another so called human being
A monster in sheep’s clothing, the devil in an all too familiar disguise
Relationships ruined in the blink of an eye
Families fractured like pieces of a broken glass
Jagged and uneven, strewn over towns and cities, some even further apart
Tears cried in sadness, bitterness, regret, shame, guilt
Some fake, some real
People become so good at faking and lying it is hard to tell where reality ends and the made up fantasy world begins
Nothing is ever as clear cut as it seems
Greed and jealously, fame and fortune the foundations for a blessed life
Loyalty tested again and again
Friends lost and forgotten
Never even given a second thought
Becoming nothing more than a name on the tip of someone’s tongue
People come and go like ships in the night
Lost and vulnerable floating from place to place
A home nothing more than four walls and a roof if you are lucky
A place to sleep, to regroup, to regain energy
For some it is a sanctuary from the ill winds of the outside world
For others it is hell on earth, a concrete or cardboard prison
Hostile words uttered in haste, a slip of the tongue, a slap around someone’s porcelain face
Tarnished by time and broken apart like building blocks scattered on the ground
Once life was precious, a gift, something to be treasured
Now it is something that we carelessly and foolishly give away
Hearts beating keeping the motor running, keeping us ticking by
We are nothing more than one big ambling machine waiting to see if we pass our services, if we are road worthy
Ready to proceed over the mine fields and pot holes that make up our lives
Our minds one big mass of useless information
Overloaded with words, facts, figures that we do not need or comprehend
Tortured with images we do not need to see
Cruelty beyond reason inflicted time and time again on our minds
Innocence swept away like a boat that has slipped its anchor and is dancing on the waves perilously close to the open sea
Youth and childhood sucked away, taken, destroyed
Crushed under foot over and over again
Adulthood comes all too quickly
Death and destruction behind almost every door
Temptation lurking like the devil waiting to invade anyone willing to submit
Consciousness and sub consciousness blurred into one terrible mess like a carefully crafted spider’s web
Life taken without even a second thought
The lines crossed in nothing more than a single solitary breath
Blood smeared like paint over battlefields, roads, walls, floors
Bodies torn apart, limb by limb
Bones broken one by one by one
A hideous laugh from a leader
A chuckle from a follower, a believer in whatever cause is being touted this week in the news
Uproar from the masses
Must be seen to be politically correct!
Life like a roller coaster rolls swiftly on and on
Bending and turning occasionally even slipping off the well oiled rails
Life a big celebration, death a dark shadow
Standing at the precipice looking down we are all faced with a choice, a challenge
Fall and crash like a bag of jumble to the ground
Destroy what is left - the heart that still beats, the mind that still races, the flame that still flickers however dull
Rise and soar like a bird high in the sky
Take chances and risks
Open your mind to the possibility of new beginnings
Cleanse the soul; rinse the poison from your veins
Scrub away the vile stench of damage and decay that follows you like a ghost night and day
Only you can chose, only you can decide which path to take
The choice we take when we want to decide if we want to be human
Monster or man, saint or sinner, evil or good
Being human – what exactly does that mean?