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The Parable Of Unknown Origin
by Dan KastenThrough no fault of my own I have seen
the blueprint of my next 40 years
unfolded in the presentation of a defense contractor
too proud of his work to keep it secret
I met Steve while waiting to board a plane to Atlanta
he was making his work O-6-able
tech talk for writing
in a language that Full Colonels would be able to understand
a concept I have been familiar with my whole life
he was a journalist caught in a scientists body
my polar opposite and my mirror image in one ephemeral soul
living life on the Mexican border
a mercenary, a paragon
finding and manipulating information for strategic consumption
he retired five years ago and moved on to places more within his calling
driven to find a natural conclusion to a lingering question he had his entire career
secretly I am jealous that he has that opportunity and equally so
that he reads The Economist, like me
for I relish that bit of my own arrogance
an hour later after reading part of a book on Christianity
my Bloody Mary suffering from not enough spice and too much ice
I watch the clouds break up somewhere over Alabama
and think that there has been a lot of carnage this year
none of which I am proud of. 12/09/2007 Author's Note: Atlanta. The Ellis. 12/09/07
Posted on 12/09/2007
Copyright © 2024 Dan Kasten
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Kathleen Wilson on 12/10/07 at 12:03 AM Excellent in every way. Atmosphere, language, intensity, introspection, perspective. |
| Posted by Gregory O'Neill on 12/10/07 at 08:46 AM I enjoyed the narrator's tone and the overall texture here. It seems that things we don't understand sometimes destroys our faith in the things we do understand. At least temporarily. Glad to read you again. |
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