Red Flag

-Red Flag-
by Keaton Foster



Upon
A hill
Distant
The shrills
Men screaming
Potent words
I don’t understand
How could I ever
They are sending me
And many others
A clear message
But I am not
Nor have I ever
Been understanding
I refuse to hear it
I refuse to believe it
I remain down here
In the muck
And mire
Of such an existence
One of my choosing
One of my damnation
Tedious are these days
Expressionless waves
Crash down upon me
I struggle to get out
The next potent idea
Before each new breaker
Smashes across my crown
They
Those men so far away
Have their own ideas
Clearer than any of mine
They know what to say
And how to say it
Quite rehearsed
They have the answers
They know the questions
They fear nothing
They are safe
Far above this sea
Far beyond these waves
They themselves
Appear as mountains
Within every darkness
Beacons of light
Allowing me to see
If I would just open my eyes
If I would just hear
What I have always refused
To understand as words
I’m uncomfortable
Not trusting
I swear they are lying
Not to me
But to themselves
They spin a tale
Greater than any
I have ever told
They lead meaning
And purpose
Into a deeper abyss
Than this ocean
Of endless ideas
That I have become
Saddled with
They tell others
Of what they wish
What they need to hear
They build them up
Higher than ever before
And right as they meet
At the highest of peak
They grab them
Kicking and screaming
They burdened them
With a weight
More than most can carry
A weight
That can never be shed
They toss them from above
Into the depths of nothing
Into a deeper abyss
Ever thought possible
And there
I fear
They forever remain
It is no hell
Nor an inferno
There are no monsters
Creatures wishing harm
There is just one thing
One concept
That I myself fear
Greater than all else
In that place
In that way
Those so down below
Those so burdened
Have no original ideas
No thoughts of their own
They, at great peril
To themselves
Believe without question
What it is they have been told
And from that point on
They question nothing
Of such words
Because they serve something
Beyond themselves
An whatever perils they face
They serve a greater idea
Than I could ever express
Such belief makes them without sight
Without truth of meaning
Such belief takes away
Any vision they once had
I myself
See such meaning
Such an existence
As a red flag
Within a world
Where we indeed
Must make our own choices
And live within those decisions…


Red Flag
Written by Keaton Foster Copyright © 2016/2017.