Pslam 4:
A Fortress of Mirrors
A mirror was built for self defense,
To mask an inadequacy
In a sea of replication,
Because a million clones can't be wrong
To seek security and protection
From images and vague reflections.
One, two, three --
The faces multiply and stay the same,
Identical pictures in varying frames,
Mirrors facing mirrors
Into an infinity of emptiness
Without a center or purpose.
Four, five, six --
They are moving to the beat
Of an inaudible drum,
Following the next man,
Following the next man...
And they all move in circles
And they all go noplace
And they all wonder why.
Seven, eight, nine --
Each is desperately trying
To impress the rest.
Ten, eleven, twelve --
No one knows how to please himself.
And they all hate each other.
And they all hate themselves.
And they all wonder why.
Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen --
A lesson in conformity.
They all agree to agree,
Afraid of thinking differently.
So they all think in circles,
And they all think of nothing,
And they all wonder why.
Eighteen, nineteen, twenty --
Moving in perfect harmony,
All lacking any identity
Seeking solace in solidarity.
Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three --
Simon says to be like me.
But who is he?
Before the stronghold a stranger came
With his own identity and his own name,
And when the panic-stricken clones
Threw rocks in defense,
The sound of shattering glass
Was followed by a deathly silence.
Now they all live nowhere
And they all live... not at all.
And they still wonder why.
February, 1988 - September, 1989
Background art created by Brandi Gabrielle Hubiak
I have always had a fear of clowns, but I don't think I ever told her this before she had drawn this illustration. *Shiver*
