Freedom or Fire, Future's Precursor

To anyone who may wish to listen,

I am writing this when I should be focusing on the future. Weaving words I've picked up from here and there into a stuttered, not quite paradisaic, but hope-filled future. Two stories are on my mind that are begging to be told. But, my mind is fried. For the moment at least. My mind can't cope with weaving words... into a stuttered, realistic if still fanciful take on the future. The future we all have ahead of us. I will get there, but for now I am writing this ridiculous poem. A stab in the dark at clearing my mind a little, as I cough up all kinds of muck from my lungs and try to stay focused. I see various railway stations in my mind, a catastrophic ending of life in each around the world at the same time, relative to time zones. London Waterloo I was defeated, you won the war

Waterloo, Shinjuku, where I saw my one true love board the train forever gone. I sat on a bench in Milan Centrale and thought of my time in Grand Central Terminal.

Promise to love you forevermore I see lies that the future governments, the governments in power right now, have woven, even better than I am with words. The lies and twisting of freedom as the enemy of the state and the people. I see the subtle subjugation of the people, who eat up the lies like mana on the floor. Freedom or public execution, trial by mob, trial live in person and direct into your phone. The world is safe, safe from harm. The harm of those who would stand against the government. Safe from those who would question the safety itself. Stand against those who have done so much to protect and prepare the world for a more peaceful existence. Where disagreements between nations are handled in boardrooms and disagreements between the common man are extinguished before they can become a problem. Extinguished like the perpetrators themselves. But all for the end goal of peace and stability.

Peace and stability?

They may call it that,

but I think they mean the other thing.

Their peace is a muzzle.

Their stability a cage. The lie settles in, over and over, until it becomes the truth they tell their children. They remind us often enough "Safe, Stable, Peace, Strength." chanted in call and response to the repeated mantra "Disobedience is chaos". Ignore this old man rambling. I am just a passer-by, for all you know. I am just an old man, old fighter, who remembers the way things were before. I've fought shadows, shouted at the void. Maybe you'll listen.

Maybe

you'll see what I couldn't in time. But, don't worry as I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Sure it's nothing to be alarmed about. The future is coming. Whether we

stand up and fight

for

freedom with fire

or

decide to accept the lead taken by those in the seats of power.

The future is coming. Whether we stand and burn in freedom's blazing fire or sit and choke on the lies they’ve woven so tightly, it’s coming. We will choose. Or we’ll let them choose for us. Either way, it’s coming, and it will burn.

Yours truly,

Just a rambling old man

*

Thanks for reading!

Author's Notes: So, with time running out, I should be working on my Future Fragments piece. I have at least one, but also possibly two entries that I have not finished yet. Have a horrible cough and a temperature that's dancing high and low, which is not helping me focus. So, as a way of clearing my mind a little I thought I would just write...something. This epistolary was written almost 100% stream-of-consciousness style and could be seen as a prelude to my entry for the Future Fragments Challenge.

I don't expect it all to make sense, until the other story is complete and published, but maybe it helps whet the appetite for more?

If you have the time or inclination, beyond reading, liking and commenting on this piece, as you are all so good at doing, here are some other things: