Mark Lipman

The Only Choice Left

There comes a point

when words just fail

to tell the entire story

to say what we need

sifting through cliches

searching for meaning

on a billboard, t-shirt

or cereal box, when

all the great thoughts

have all been used up

all the deep meanings

spent on commercials

and we wonder is this it

is this all there is to life.

At some point, maybe today, 

or many years from now,

during the coldest summer

of the rest of our lives,

we will blink and notice

what was staring at us

all along, right in front

of our faces, and think

there must be more than this

than what we’ve been told are

the limits of our existence.

Somewhere along the line

we might even remember

what it once was like 

to be happy and free

to be innocent 

in a world gone mad

before we just became

accomplices.

Once upon a time

not so very long ago

something changed

the course of history

and our very lives

it might have been

when she smiled and

looked into your eyes

or perhaps when 

you got on that train 

crossing a bridge 

to nowhere 

and just believed

what they told you to

because that’s the way

it has always been

and we forgot to ask 

the questions.

Either way

it’s no longer the same

and there’s nothing

left to blame

except our fears

and doubts

as it always was

and always will be

the only choice left

is the one you make today.