God Is a Comedian

The quiet glow of the city tantalized the boy

With its promise of freedom and prosperity and love

With its promise of having outstretched arms

With its promise of the yellow tangerine

If you’re brave enough to climb the tree

But here he was so far away

With no freedom, with no love, and with no yellow tangerine

Here he was with the soil he was born in, will live in, and will die in

Here he was, with nothing but the quiet hum of the factory and the dirt on his face

Here he was, alone and doomed to be

Day after day he came

Until his soul became intertwined with the metal itself

Until the tightening of screws became his medicine

Until the dream of freedom was nothing more than the dust on the floor

The only escape was the window

The same window where he saw the yellow tangerine but could never touch it

It was the only escape they said

The only place where the metal will escape you they said

The only place where you no longer have to hear the churn of the factory they said

So he went, not with fear, but hope

He stood at the edge

And balanced on the ledge

But then he heard the factory call out his name

And the metal cry out shame

And he chuckled, “God is a silly fellow”, and went back the same