the collective oblivious

I can’t walk down the street
Without passing some poor soul
Who just lost a dog

     A mother,
     God,
     Or all three at once?

He grabs the patched elbow
Of my brown corduroy;
Sings between hiccup sobs
And the roar of traffic.

I try my best to explain:
His dog ran under the car tire
So that girl over there could walk
Her new one and feel the things
     She would never feel in this age.

He calls me “crazy”
And walks away, blubbering.
I cross the street and
Continue walking, alongside
The girl and the puppy.

I ask her what of Life and
She thinks she’s all alone.
     Strange;
I didn’t know where to look for it either.

We all learn eventually
Or die
Having learned nothing.  But
We all die anyway.

In the meantime,
     Running between uninterests,
     Frantically scratching the nickel,
     Flipping the ticket over again,
All of it with sweat-beads,
Is nothing more than masturbation.

We bend, all of us.
     Some break,
And all are freed when it’s over.
While out in the vacuum,
Senseless of screams,
We advance
Perpetually forward,
Blue-green and so fucking full-of-It.