Desert Dweller

There is no burrow deep enough
to avoid making a few enemies.

People don’t like it when one points out
they’ve been swindled,
so they keep their heads in the sand
while the swindle keeps growing,
and they starve for morsels
that sustain their unsustainable philosophy.

Fears of not getting into the privileged club
of prolonged asphyxiation—
folks fearing their God-given right
to look down
on another class of people—

slipping away.

Hiding in their boxes
of what they already believe,
cardboard boxes soaking in the rain.

Lying
to themselves:
“This will protect me.”

Their idea of science:
a mountain of scripture
and gangs of saints.

Why are so many swayed
by unlikely virgin births,
improbable resurrections,
and implausible rebirths,

rather than by observable,
verifiable, and replicable
physics, chemistry, and biology?

The loudest music
is meaningless
to deaf ears.


© 2025 Bruno Talerico
Stafford challenge 226/365.