Relishing the Absurd

“Up the creek without a paddle”

A saying you must have heard,

Like in the midst of life’s huge ocean

Being guided by the absurd.

“The Emperor’s new clothes” is another:

Stark naked but fully dressed,

It’s what I want so don’t you bother

I am not having any stress.

It is sanity and madness

Profanity mixed with gladness,

Why should my pursuit of euphoria

Cause you such grief and sadness?

All for me and I for me

It’s what I want that matters,

There are all of you but one of me

And all that matters is the latter.

Up the creek without a paddle

Now fast approaching the fall,

For a while back there it wasn’t so bad

Now nobody answers my call.

Amidst the tumult of the rapids

My raft rocking to and fro,

About to be jettisoned any moment now

Experiencing the “I told you so”.

I did not listen, just like the world

I saw it my own way too,

The fall approaches and I am doomed

In spite of all that I knew.

Warning after warning came my way

But the pleasure was such a balm,

Up the creek without a paddle

But everything appeared to be calm.

No compass or guide except the urge

To please me and only me,

Around me, the entire world revolved,

Surely everybody could see.

Who needs a paddle when all is well?

Who needs an oar or governor?

Not me at that time but surely now!

Now I am facing such horror.

Acceptance of death instead of life

Was the choice of our fore-parents,

The gift of life is on offer again

But the majority refuses to repent.

We are not very bright; it clearly shows

The lessons of life we do not learn,

We will make it without God above

And His grace we will continue to spurn

So, we are up a creek without a paddle

And we feel all is well and good,

We have no idea of the approaching fall

For we are not seeing as we should.

Charmed by the glitter that grabs our gaze

The unreal obscures the real

And, severely distracted by Satan’s ploy,

Unheeded goes the Spirit’s appeal.

A little bit more till I have had my fill

To be saturated being my intent,

Just a little bit more while I have time

When I have had enough, I will repent.

Up the creek without a paddle

May have been the issue in the past,

But now being tossed in the foamy rapids

Speaks to a far more humongous task.

The state of our world is so similar

As men seek to satisfy their urge

And with every passing day, we note,

Enormous societal ills emerge.

Packaged in a so-called golden wrap

To bamboozle the least suspecting,

Exchanging the peacock for the feather

Refusing life and death accepting.

Stewart Russell © September 2019