I looked into the eyes of a beast
And all that I saw was myself.
I saw power and intellect,
Reasoning and will.
And yet the beast was in chains
All the same.
Not literal chains, for that
Would be cruel.
But there stands a fence
Ever so far away.
There’s a good chance the
Beast doesn’t know it exists.
But it does exist, for I’ve seen it.
I looked behind the curtain,
I broke the illusion,
And I saw the true face of Oz.
So what then is worse:
Chains you wear,
Or chains you don’t even know that you have?
And what’s to say that there’s no fence around me?
That I’m not a beast
In a park?
Perhaps there is one who
Has seen behind my curtain.
Yet like the beast,
I live woefully unaware.
So I take my cup of freedom,
With two lumps of salt.
And I keep my eyes open
For fences.
Because just like the beast
We might think that we’re free.
But until we cross the line
And see what’s on
The other side…
We’re really just another
Caged attraction.
Feb 21, 2013
Feb 21, 2013 at 8:46 PM UTC
I looked into the eyes of a beast
And all that I saw was myself.
I saw power and intellect,
Reasoning and will.
And yet the beast was in chains
All the same.
Not literal chains, for that
Would be cruel.
But there stands a fence
Ever so far away.
There’s a good chance the
Beast doesn’t know it exists.
But it does exist, for I’ve seen it.
I looked behind the curtain,
I broke the illusion,
And I saw the true face of Oz.
So what then is worse:
Chains you wear,
Or chains you don’t even know that you have?
And what’s to say that there’s no fence around me?
That I’m not a beast
In a park?
Perhaps there is one who
Has seen behind my curtain.
Yet like the beast,
I live woefully unaware.
So I take my cup of freedom,
With two lumps of salt.
And I keep my eyes open
For fences.
Because just like the beast
We might think that we’re free.
But until we cross the line
And see what’s on
The other side…
We’re really just another
Caged attraction.
Request permission to use this poem