Atropos

How I love the wisdom of crowds--
it’s the kind of knowledge no man grasps 
on his own. But, then, 
just like dew, 
all that apprehension 
melts away. 

I am not infexible as they say, it is just 
that no one can offer a compelling argument. 
Why cede to the arrogant? 
I hate do-gooders. In the end, 
you will be punished for your kindnesses. 
I always let murderers see out their days. 

And you? What have you done? 
If I stopped your heart, would it not be heard? 
And what of dreams? 
The illusory is always a part of reality. 
Any description of the world that omits our dreams 
would only be a dream. 

Subjects don’t know it, but I visit them 
three days after they are born 
​to imprint their lives.
You lose objects in the same places, 
hum the same tunes. 
It is all over before it has begun. 

The twins, Hypnos and Thanatos, 
egg me on. They are snippy with me. 
They laugh at their joke 
at my expense. But I hold my tongue and, 
when the time comes, I measure twice, 
cut once.