The Grand Canyon Has Circled The Globe

by Reese Neal

 

An imaginary "X" marks the place where it hit (more of a skull and crossbones than

anything else), and 20 lights dimmed an to orange, melted glow of a half-moon

during last year's ninth month.

 

Feathers of clouds dropped like lightning with wings from a single, dark eye

half-open, half-closed, yet not quite real.

And still, somewhere similar, someone else perceives it differently,

as a mouth with teeth, maybe,

and a dry tongue, mute,

or some would say "the will of God."

 

The television doesn't lie. I believe everything I see.

I believe everything I read, too.

Extra! Extra! The paperboy crashed his bicycle into my front porch again this morning.

I didn't help him up; instead, I kicked him in the head because he looked like he could

possibly be the son of a terrorist.

I abused him verbally and spit in his face.

"Who do you think you are, son? You trying to be some kind of freedom fighter,

attacking my house? Get the hell out of my yard before I cut your throat!"

By the way, did I tell you I believe everything I read?

This just in:

We are not humans. We have never been.

We are Men. We are Women. We are Young. We are Old. We are Christians. We are Muslims. We are Americans. We are Arabs. We are Japanese. We are Nazis. We are Jews. We are Black. We are White. We are Virgins and Whores. We are Cowboys. We are Native Americans held hostage in our own country. We are Illegal Aliens. We are Refugees. We are Homeless. We are Rapists. We are Criminals. We are Vegetarians. We are the North and the South, the East and the West.

                              We are Patriots.

Oh, the beauty of how superior we become behind the shield of our classifications! 

 

We move mechanically, as from a factory, a product of inbreeding, completed and inspected on the great conveyor belt of Ford's assembly line. We are ugly, all of us, and we've brainwashed ourselves into thinking otherwise. We look the other way. We close our eyes to keep from feeling guilty. We blame our faults on others. We plead temporary insanity. We are warm, well fed, and have better cars and bigger houses than our neighbors do. After all, that's all that matters, right? We forget that there is a world beyond what we know, and that in some places war is a constant dripping. Drip on, fountain of life, and wet the dirt generously to aid us as we toil, carving out the Grand Canyon of our own graves.

 

Reese Neal has a heart. This heart pumps the blood of truth and life. He is an honest and honorable person who knows that to make a difference a person must practice what they preach.

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