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 Grindel,

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 objective control over humankind,

The Beast Sucks virtue,

From Men,

Empty of purpose,

Making a bargain Faustian,

With these amoral parasites,

Enemies of the people.

Thus are the Innocent,

Made victims,

Laws 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 this imagined premonition,

Of what might finally be,

The Eloi were consumed,

By the warlocks,

Scavengers dwelling below,

Does this Beast hint,

At the unsavory,

We are destined to suffer,

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,

Amoral penitents,

In its service.

Deny him,

As did Peter,

Of Jesus,

As the Beast,

For them,

Was their Savior,

Until the cult was abandoned,

Spineless leaders,

Rush to the front of the parade,

To speak to the Terror,

To claim the emerging 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 were revealed,

From quarters unexpected,

Who wanted no more,

To be sick in their heart and soul,

The Beast’s reach was broken,

Vanquished,

The Beast Caged,

This is the way of the world,

Turning, churning in gyres,

We succeed 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,

When we do,

The taste of concord,

Of respect and of dignity,

Is so sweet,

One wonders anew,

How ever was it lost.

For even one moment in time.

JPF