A King David of Our Times
written by: Bogdan Dragos
@1_dr_bogdan
I didn’t have a car
or a driving license
or the penchant
to get either
It was one of the low
points in life
not because I didn’t have
what I wanted
but because I didn’t know
what I wanted
no dreams
no ambitions
no energy
My hands were holding nothing
but free time,
about to discard it
into the
wastebasket of reality
I sat alone on
the small bench in the
bus station
waiting
and not waiting
tired
without effort
And then I saw him
across
the boulevard
By the side of another bus
station
and near the trash cans
He was small
but swift as a mouse
and just as dirty
as one
Barefoot
ragged
Even from that distance
I could make out
the scabs on his skin
They were overshadowed
only by the crimson
anger that blazed
through his
small frame
He was angry at
life
angry at the world
His soul boiling over
with unfulfilled desires
The frustration of
existing in the big
city
but not being able to live
in it
coursed through his veins
The boulevard was
bright with neon lights
and adorned with
restaurants
and fast-foods
and clothing stores
and billboards with big,
smiley faces
looking down on him
THESE WONDERFUL
PRODUCTS
THAT WE’RE HOLDING
AND ENJOYING, they seemed
to say to him, ARE NOT
FOR YOU AND NEVER
WILL BE. BUT YOU
MIGHT WATCH US.
HAHAHAHAHA!
Their silent but eternal
words echoed
inside his small head,
frying his brains
in
green and gray
juices of hatred
but he wasn’t passive
to their bullying
Oh no, he stood up
to those smiling, laughing,
mocking giants
I saw him pick random
pebbles from the
street and
trash from the
trash cans
and
like a storm
his small hands
hurled the stuff
right into the faces of
giants
He had godlike aim
Hit their foreheads
and their stupid smiles, knocking
off teeth or staining
their whiteness with dirt
A while later a bus
passed by
and he threw stuff at the
people smiling in the ad it
displayed on the side. I think
it was an ad for
herbal teas or some
food supplements
He got them good
again
but the bus turned on its
emergency lights
and stopped
The kid vanished
into the alleys
and the bus driver
turned the emergency lights
off and drove on
Everything and
everyone moved on
but myself
I stood there
static
A part of me envying the
little David who
threw defiant
stones at the giants in
his life
and another part
pitying me for envying him
I felt
pathetic
defeated
The giants in my life
were all inside
of me
I didn’t know how
to throw rocks at them
so for a while
I kept throwing rocks
at myself
I still do
from time to time
but now I can
write about it and it somehow
feels better
- Watch and Learn - August 9, 2024
- A King David of Our Times - June 27, 2022
- Her Split Tongue Flickering Like A Flame Against Soft Ideas - April 11, 2022
