For a while

Nothing and Nothingness For a While
Daniel Segura
4/23/05

For a while, I stopped dreaming
In crazy colors, alinear mysteries
With no specific beginning, middle or end.

For a while, there was no more startled waking,
Drenched in pools of uncertain sweat,
Energized and terrorized by the clenched jaw and flowing adrenaline.

For a while, I stopped daydreaming,
Being lulled during life’s rush hours
By other worldly fantasies and moments of inspiration.

For a while, all the lulling I needed came from
Debates over some media-made harlot
And fantasies of wealth and fame.

For a while, I stopped pondering meanings
Of life, of love, of Creation,
Of Heaven, of Hell, of the Creator Himself.

For a while, pondering itself was meaningless
When my digital exo-conscience would tell me all
I needed to know about everything it told me I needed to know.

For a while, I stopped creating
Art with my hands, guided by an innovative mind;
And poetry with my pen, guided by a searching soul.

For a while, innovation itself was handled for me
As I voyeuristically spied on those dependent
On those dependent on those who needed someone to create for them.

For a while, I stopped making plans for the future
While striving for a new vision
And seeking a new mission.

For a while, my electronic lobotomy
Gave me the muted bliss of stagnation,
Of sinking into the lazy-boy, planning for nothing, going nowhere.

For a while, my time was only measured
By the 24 programmed minutes of each half-hour
And the life-directing, “messages” interspersed amongst them.

For a while, I stopped breathing air
Found in a world simmered in summer’s dew
And ozone-purified by thunderclap lightning.

For a while, I sought only climate control
And air closely monitored
By a flashing and whirring, but unblinking solo-ocular head,

For a while, I stopped growing stronger physically,
Stretching and lifting, pushing muscles, ligaments and tendons to
Break and tear ever so slightly enough to strengthen.

For a while, my body atrophied,
Skin loosening, muscles effectual for little more than thumbing a remote,
It preparing to consume mass quantities and to be consumed wholly by commercialism.

For a while, I stopped reading.