Relax
by Tod Caviness
The real moral of the story here,
the jedi mind trick
to living passably in this
age of giants and faraway agendas, is
don't read too much into it
There is no middle ground
between paranoia
and numbness, so
for crying out loud,
don't look too hard
at the stop signs
or try to analyze
the smiles
on the newscasters faces
Make the best
of this best
of all possible worlds,
use the chemicals force-fed
to your advantage
for the right combinations
of tryptophan and alcohol,
caffiene, xanax, and demerol
can safely simulate
a strobelight coma
and allow you to navigate safely
from one sunset
to the next
Don't read too much into it
in fact feel free
to skip ahead
to the back page
God knows there are no endings
to the stories on the front
Rest assured that
your suspicions are confirmed
and the words you've heard
about saving the whales,
banning the bomb,
and feeding the world
are just that
but somewhere
deep in a think tank
off Route 66 in Nevada
the secret chiefs of the world
are hard at work
on the real equation,
the question on everyone's mind,
and soon we will find out
Whose Fault It All Is
After which
everything will be fine
Because there's no profit
in salvation, it's how
the game's been played
in the land of the free
since before it was here
Back in the BC
it was Cain vs. Abel
on the big-screen TV
Since then it's all
just different spins
on the same old song
Christ vs. Pilate
and it don't stop
Ceasar and Marc
and it don't stop
kings and their courts
and it don't stop
King and the cops
and it don't stop
Hitler, the jews
and it don't stop
holy vengeance, lines in the sand
and it don't stop
until it does
at which time
you would do well
to remind yourself
it's only a story
please tell me a story
there is no story
without conflict
and at the least
this may make you smile
and if it don't
don't sweat it
but for God's sake
don't read too much into it
