THE BEAST
by John P. Flannery
The Beast roams,
Its mind darkness,
Its form fleshy,
Hideous to behold,
A brutish being,
Isolated from what’s human,
Without a mother’s love,
Bred on a father’s hate,
— — — — -
A descendant Monster,
Like the formidable Grendel,
But where do we find our
Modern Day Beowulf,
With the hand grip
Of twenty men,
To bring down this Beast,
— — — — -
The Beast wanders,
Across a vast landscape,
Like the force of fire,
Fama rumpit,
Ashes and waste,
Where it’s walked,
Its course hate and destruction,
Its final objective,
Control over humankind,
— — — —
The Beast Sucks virtue,
From Men,
Empty of purpose,
Making a bargain Faustian,
With amoral parasites,
Enemies of the people,
— — — -
Thus are the innocent,
Made victims,
Law’s lost,
The regular order,
Transformed,
Replaced by chaos and pain,
Extending in every direction,
Across the wine dark seas,
— — — — -
The Eloi were an imagined future remnant,
Of what was once civilized humanity,
Living in the sunlight of the day,
Happy and playful,
Innocent,
Without guile,
Loving,
Above the earth,
But, in Wells’ imagined world,
The Eloi were consumed,
By the worlocks,
Scavengers dwelling below,
— — — -
Does this beast hint,
At our unsavory prospects,
— — —
The suspense of history,
Is what’s teleological,
How it will end,
— — — — -
The hero,
Comes late,
So it seems,
— — — —
There’s first a burning ember,
A light from within,
Become word,
The Truth said aloud,
Giving voice to heart and soul,
Prompting an act,
To end indignity and fear,
To endure no longer,
What was sufferable,
— — — -
In a stroke,
Eagerly wished for,
Secretly hoped for,
That seemed unimaginable,
A blow is struck,
The Beast is cut,
— — — —
Staggered at first,
Its amoral penitents,
Deny him,
As did Peter,
Of Jesus,
As the Beast,
Is for them,
Their savior,
of a cultish form,
— — — — -
Spineless leaders,
Rush to the head of the parade,
To speak to the Terror,
To claim any victory,
Over the Beast,
— — — — -
But it’s a victory,
Belonging to the People,
Who risked themselves,
To awake the world,
To the Beast among us,
— — — -
The heroes revealed,
Emerge from quarters unexpected,
Who wanted no more,
To suffer,
The Sickness,
In heart and soul,
— — — -
The Beast’s reach broken,
The winds of change upon us,
The Beast is vanquished,
And caged,
— — — —
This is the way of the world,
Turning, churning,
In endless gyres,
We shall, however, suceed in the end,
Because we are a people,
Meant to be free of fear,
Who favor truth over deceit,
Who favor the embrace of love,
Over hate and suppression,
But we learn slowly,
How to turn to the light,
But when we do,
The taste of concord,
Of respect and dignity,
Is so sweet,
One wonders anew,
How ever was it lost,
For even a moment in time,
JPF
