Poem - When I Was Alive

In times now past he became

He was born, he grew, he thrived

Do you remember those days spent playing

In the time he was truly alive?

Time went by so slowly then

Now it passes, so fast, seems to melt

As a child he dreamed and he marveled

But where went the joy he felt?

You’re now an adult, they tell him

You must see what is here, what is real

Yet the dream is his essence, he’s drowning

With no ear to hear what he feels

A world of worker ants, throbbing and pulsing

The heart of a heartless machine

Scalp gripped tightly by world’s cruel claws,

Nose forced to the grindstone, he screams

The skull that created is crushed

With the beauty inside left to spill

No concern for his art and his passion

Just his blood, to oil the wheel

And that’s why he’s gone away now

An attempt to escape from the pain

Tired of watching his life, going slowly

Sullied water, away through the drain

You could never have known when he left that day;

Left to you is to wonder why

It seems unfair to leave you wond’ring, alone,

As the last to see him alive.

Randall Madden

August 24, 2014