Paper Persona Masks

Paper Persona Masks
© Surazeus
2024 12 19

If we all call each other the wrong names 
our paper persona masks, blown by the wind, 
may land on windshield of the brand new car 
which Zeus drives to his Olympian home 
and cause him to remember we exist 
so he will come and visit us at school. 

Yet when the angry boy who hates the world 
strides in school with gun of hate in his hand, 
we cannot escape wrath of random rage 
that tears our sense of safety into shreds 
of dollar bills laundered by the drug lord 
to buy yachts and senators with his greed. 

We cannot escape this planet of games 
so we must build paradise on this Earth, 
treating each other with honest respect 
because cats love everybody the same 
when they run across the rooftops of trains, 
transforming into superheroes of fate. 

Too many normal and kindhearted people 
become famous when someone shoots them dead, 
so I would rather stay alive and unknown 
than become famous for how I get killed, 
therefore I shift slantwise shadow of fate, 
evading Death for just another day. 

If we could be heroes just for one day 
we would help homeless refugees from war 
build shelter from the storm in paradise 
so every person in the world can learn 
creative skill according to their talent 
to live their one wild and precious life well. 

As I review strange beauty of this Earth 
with animals teeming in varied landscapes, 
perceiving complex beauty of all forms 
composed of atoms glowing into life, 
I comprehend that no one made this world, 
for everything transforms from energy. 

So when we gather on the river shore 
that flows by the temple where Zeus plays chess 
with Hades over who will die today, 
we give each other new names from our hearts 
to wear as paper masks when we perform 
game of politics in grand halls of power. 

I see you with my complicated eyes, 
sensing with my heart your essential soul 
which glows with divinity through your eyes, 
so we make fruit pies and hot chocolate 
to eat around the glowing hearth of love 
on this dark eternal night of the soul.