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Why me?
The world is full of tadpoles just like me.
We run the place, we keep it clean -
Ignore the bloodworms and the mean
Mosquitoes floating overhead, the flea
Who scuffs the gravel scattered on the bed -
While we, triumphant, bask in peace
Fat and floating at our ease,
Pampered, warmed, secure, as we're fed
Manna from heaven which drops on us each day
Out of the light, two rounded cakes,
Night and morn, from he who bakes
Them, the Giant Tadpole in the sky.
Nothing changes, nothing ever will.
While some rush for the food, I find
I retain my peace of mind
With faith the Tadpole deity will fulfil
The eternal promise to our watery race
Feed tadpoles, fill all enemies
The worms, the midges and the fleas
Until the day when he pours out his grace
And we're transformed, taken by his love
Into the realms of light which lie
Far beyond us in the sky
Where all is perfect in his bright heaven above.
Ah, what hell is this which should be heaven?
My body bloated, breathing air,
Arms and legs and eyes that stare
Across a vast and steaming, reeking midden.
Gone the dreamy waters of the lake -
Gone the friends, the daily meal
Gone the family who feel
As I do. Surely this is a mistake?
What have I done to suffer such a fall?
What broken rules, unheeded laws,
Abandonment of that first cause
Which made me safe, thinking I knew his call?
But now the light is dimming and the air,
Which I detest, is growing cold
And my body's growing old
Yet nothing in this dessert seems to care
And all the family I knew before
Have vanished far beyond my sight
Leaving me alone to fight
Against this darkness piercing to the core
My soul, where life was once a gentle kiss,
Innocent, uncaring, cared for,
Loved, supported, nurtured; wherefore
Should I seek for any other bliss?
I do not understand why hope is gone.
I only know it has; and I
Must face it, even though I die
In ignorance of anything I've done.
Brian Hick April 2015
