1462

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