Character Sketch: Confusion

​Confusion: Dark, orange cloud of chaos.
Self-interested ignorance.
Juxtaposed to--
Confusion: Invisible, deadly cloud of coronavirus.
Generously shared.
One powerful man, plus one powerful virus, equals
two-fold tragedy.
Much-coveted cooperation—wasted 
on Death.
Life, liberty, love--
Quarantined.
Destruction, disease, depression--
Wandering.
Only tears to make stone soup,
The stone sits and sinks—stews
waiting . . .
but nothing is added
doors remain locked, neighbors silent.
The bell’s toll proclaims profound need.
Ingredients hoarded, people hide behind the invisible cape of their keyboards,
flying and fighting.
Heroes of the ether—online, in their own minds.
Alone (in disguise) in reality.
But—reality is a memory,
Folklore, near-forgotten fable.

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​Confusion has replaced community.
Confusion has erased common sense.
Confusion is a blinding light
—intentional tactic
—manifestation of evil allowed to slither up and around—engulfing.
While we
—too distracted
—too stressed
—too much
—too tired
—too lazy
to speak or act or care—out loud and in person.
Surrendering to be swallowed, spit out . . . swallowed again.
Shuffling from one display of drama
to the next,
fearing the silence more than anything.
Resisting the feelings we ignore
denying reality at all costs—at every opportunity, after each tragedy.
We let the mind work its magic:
Memories disappear.
Hard edges soften.
Lessons dissolve unlearned, unintentional, unimportant.
Leaving the cycle to start again: same bed prepared, toxic seeds sown, take root and grow--
into more monsters, more mayhem, more of--
The Same.
Cue: Confusion.
That menacing character continues to reinvent and take control, 
while we revert to our time-honored history of hypocrisy and 
our beloved bevy of distractions (they salivate and wait patiently).

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