THE MADNESS SONG

by J. Stevens

Let us be perfectly clear
When the madness comes
All the edges disappear
You can’t prepare for this feeling of no there there

You’re here
And a lot of what was elsewhere
But how much & for how long
Will depend on your education

That’s here too
And whether you are taking your medication
This is a complex fluid not impossible
Situation

You need to wrap your arms around some facts
That have been hiding behind your back
When the madness comes
The word you want is elusive

Those things that elude you and those that grip
When the madness comes try to enjoy
The way you & the bullshit part company
No logic to their slipperiness

Oh my god! The tether’s just been cut
You’are an astronaut
When the madness comes so does the sadness
Of all things that drift apart

The continents drifted apart
Lets pretend we don’t feel
Their sadness every day
Our astronaut falls through time’s tarry mirror

Dressed in a suit or armor that once cost more
Eons ago
than most of history’s smaller wars that we the taxpayer
Also paid for. Talk about the horror

When the madness comes
Power is still only a six gun or for arguments sake
A fountain pen
Same story different versions

When the madness comes hate
Is everything you do not expect which is everything
Which is this thing and this thing
And this thing

The same thing
In all its variations
When the madness comes that’s the zazen
Keep it compartmentalized if you can

When the madness comes love is the same
Always the same green fuse
That drives the rain’s brief
But infinite flowerings

I don’t pretend like everyone else to just follow the news
I’ve got thoughtful views on American idol
& the human genome to pick two at random
From the multitude I could subject you to

I really do
But it is the signals you can not not
Pay attention to but won’t remember
When the excitement begins

That gives moments like this
Their importance
When the madness comes
The eyes put you wise

Or so I’ve heard
You see it you’ll know it
It can’t be disguised
Nature herself is pretty damn loco

Whether we are talking about an instant
A lot of the time
Or an eon or some in between
To understand anything fully is always an act of the imagination

I don’t pretend to know
Whether the door to this metaphor is locked
Or not
But we are trapped inside something burning and hot

The window the others dove through is blocked
Just that terrible noise when things blow up
What’s usually here is more than enough
No knowing by what

When the madness comes
One of the first things lost
Is your sense of loss
When the madness comes

That crack where the light got in
Pompei was buried under a fine hot ash
Wind volume mass
You do the math

Even the most luxurious diet of emptiness
When the madness comes
Love is the same always the same
Green fuse that drives the rain’s

Brief but infinite flowerings
Your weight looks good
Your color’s only adequate
Won’t make all the appetites vanish

To stay on top of this maybe can be managed….just
To prepare for that feeling of no there there
Lets pretend there’s no way
You’re here

And a lot of what was elsewhere
But how much & for how long
Will depend on your education
And whether you are taking

The word you want is elusive
One thing is perfectly clear
That’s here too
Your medication

First the edges
Disappear
This is a complex
Fluid

But not impossible situation
That’s the zazen
Keep it compartmentalized
If you can

♦♦♦