The Free Radical

– by Ham* (This is the transcript of an oration by a guest at Barfuss one night out by the fire.)
The Mouse In The Maze & His Flying Elephant

The mouse was born in the maze
…and oh what a maze it was!
Truly amazing!
It was all he knew–
this being amazed… and confused…
Perhaps for a time he thought
of finding a way out,
But no one he met
had ever found the way–
For if anyone had… well…
they’d… be… out!
So he lived on the government cheese,
and lived as mice will do.
But displeased with such tedium…
deep in the labyrinth… he began to think it through…
Where do I go as I dream?
Perfectly real– the ordeal as I’m in it–
and then upon awakening… denied… unseen.
Clearly. Here. I stand on denial…
I deny… therefore I am not.
…and oh what a knot it was!
Perhaps the dreamer is more real than I,
and I, the schemer he can’t deny…
And then quite suddenly
amidst his mousely ruminations…
He fell abruptly awake into a dream… and…
The illumination of what he’d seen…
seemed so terribly irrelevant,
For what has a mouse to do
with a big old flying elephant?
But the elephant was patient,
and yes, of course… wise.
He waited for the mouse to speak–
a squeak… a pip… perhaps a peep–
before he’d offer his advice.
Who are you? asked the mouse.
Another part of you, said the flying elephant.
But I can’t fly!
And Ellie crashed to the floor.
Must you deny?
Well… I’m a mouse… after all…
And then quite suddenly
amidst his mousely chagrin
The mouse had a fall… within…
again… the labyrinth.
He awoke to a sleepy daze–
the maze in a foggy haze–
had clearly seen some better days,
But the ways of the maze
Can make the most amazing days… crazy…
And a mouse wouldn’t think twice
about the relevance or reality
Of what it might be like to be an elephant…
who denies gravity!
But a mouse’s dreams, tucked
beneath old straw and droppings,
Lie forgotten, forlorn…
Swapping the reel
for these scenes… of scorn… so vile and rotten.
You see, what the mouse didn’t know… was…
Who directs the show?
He never would have guessed
that blessed elephant would confess–
and really seem to understand–
that the flying elephant
was at the mouse’s command.
We are one, spoke Ellie in a dream:
You are free will,
And I am the wisdom to guide you…
through empty and fill… until…
The spirit resides and decides within you…
as you breathe…
so as you are.
So the mouse directed the elephant
toward the tasks that he found relevant
Things with labyrinthian significance–
and utterly meaningless to flying elephants!
For remember wisdom is elegance,
not this floundering in the maze,
And the mouse sometimes wanted done
what wisdom cannot do– amazing things
to impress the kings
and the tigers… at the zoo.
Oh mouse, seize this advantage.
What I see from my vantage–
tomorrow… and you…
the curves in the road,
the lessons and challenge;
Lessen your burden; lighten your load!
Use me according to your own imagination.
…and oh what an imagination it is!
For the mouse thought his thoughts were his,
not this script from beyond the scene–
But where do you think you have been
every time that you dream…
If not escaped from the labyrinth?
Lay to rest this doubt
once and for all…
You’ve known the way out… always…
You fall… asleep…
And we speak… and the hallways
and corridors of your amazement abate…
As finally you realize that I’m yours… truly…
to have a flying elephant is great!

*Hamourapi -Frequent readers of Cobra’s blog and American Kabuki may recognize the inspiration for this poem having come from a similar story called The Elephant and the Ant by commentator Hamourapi. I took considerable license here, so it’s pretty much a different thing altogether… but I felt the need nevertheless to give credit where credit is due.