To Be or Not to Be Awake!
By Reid Baer

To be aware of my inner
will or not - that is the question:
whether 'tis easier in the mind

To martyr the conditions of
my own creation or to take
blame against a sea of troubles

And by opposing continue
them like a sheep in wolf’s clothing
hoping to end the heartache and

The thousand natural bites of
realities to the flesh - ‘tis
an expectation for fools to

Avoid this painful life embrace
in the name of the poet’s love
and think that sleep will keep us

Safe from our own dark follies in
a perpetual dream state
irresponsible – separated -

From ourselves and the synchronism
of phenomena produced not
by those imaginary whips and

Scorns of time, but by me. Be kind
to poor Ophelia and let the
accountability be mine.
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