Encroaching Darkness

How long, do you think, should a man wait for his dreams to seemingly manifest themselves into the realm of reality that others deem real? How hard should he work to secure a future that someone else is always looking to take from him? And when will he realize that most, if not all, of his endeavors are futile in their attempts?

He see's something on the horizon that others do not see. He looks past the evident white whispers of clouds that loom in the distance. Others that he comes in contact with on his daily scurrying about in this world seem to be oblivious of what lies just out of view. But he  knows, he feel it in his soul his very essence tingling with the sensation of what lies ahead. The Encroaching Darkness!

He has exhausted all of his mental abilities and has failed terribly. It appears that every way he turns, every avenue he ventures down, becomes blocked, a dead end to a once magnificent dream, now fading from his mind, his thoughts.

Each one he shares his thoughts with turn. Perhaps not meaning to, but they turn, mocking his every attempt at realizing a dream. Never sharing his thoughts or those random dreams he has nursed for most of his life. Weak and tired, unable to carry on or unwilling to dream any more, he sits and looks off into the horizon. That horizon that gentle white, fake, artificial clouds shroud the truth, the inevitable ever moving, ever looming truth...The Encroaching Darkness!

He has a plan. Yes, a plan, yet not one he can share, nor does he wish he could. Each dream, each fantasy, each ideal always taken from him, robbing him of satisfaction, peace, tranquility and filling his soul with solitude. Regardless, it is taken away and none understand but he himself. Wicked souls laughing in the shadows, snickering at the mention of his name, his dreams, his view of reality.

A shadow of the fabled movie The Matrix. Would it not be ironic if what we have grown to know as reality but were a dream in itself? Ours but fed to us by some horrendous evil presence, hell bent on keeping us from realizing the truth. What if? But we know it can't be. The answer would be too simple, the reason behind it all, to logical. Understanding why dreams fade. Why those who do not need continue to reap bountifully while those who seek, never find what they sought? Yet failing to see beyond the ridge, beyond the pretty facade of mist we call clouds. Failing to listen to the sound, the thunderous sound of what must come next...The Encroaching Darkness!

He must remain silent. He must bite his tongue when he wishes he could reach out, reach out and warn others. He knows and realizes that he cannot, under any circumstance, for if he does, his goal will be realized by those who seek to rob him of it and leaving him once again, helpless. He wishes he could though, wishes he could reach through the shadows and find the very few who remain. Those rare kindred spirits who need no words or audible means of communication to calm his restless soul. They are there, but few they be, few who are still able to hold onto long thought silly and false abilities to see what others can't see or won't see.

He lies in bed at night, sending as deep as he can send, yet like some form of crustacean, withdrawing back into his own shell when a response or reply is felt. His distrust of all around him, the inability to confide or to share his intimate thoughts always being turned against him, thus never able to share. It hinders him from reaching out, touching those souls who seek the same as he does, yet fearing the truth behind that joining of minds in the night. But should he? Should he reach out, trust once again? He needs to, mainly because he knows that they see what he does. They hear the thunder that booms far past the horizon. They see the lightning flashing, searing the ground and electrifying the atmosphere around the powerful bolts. They know. They understand and are able to see...The Encroaching Darkness.

The plan, the only one he has left. It is the only way he knows to cheat those who strive to take his last bit of hope away, yet will he win in the end. He knows what must be done and sadly, he knows the outcome. None will understand, none will smile and think of him. None will say, "He had no other choice". None will remember back, think back on him and his  many illicit dreams that he worked so hard to find, to solidify, to change form a vaporous dream he had late in the night into a reality the next day. All forgotten, all lost in the folds of time and space. Yes, none will say out loud....it was a wise decision he made. he had no reason to hold onto the thin string of silk which bound his dreams together.

So he will do what he must and none be the wiser.

He stands on the hilltop. His eyes focused on the horizon so far away. His face saddened by what he knows yet no one else able to see. His ears focused on the sound that appears to be so far away yet so close. He stands alone as he always has. He never understood why he was this way, why he was unique in a world he is so separate from. A world he wondered if he was ever really a part of. A lifetime of being different. An eternity of searching, longing and dreaming, yet finding those endeavors to be frantic and unrealized. He stand on the hilltop, a slight breeze playing with his hair, tickling his ears as if nature itself was taunting him. He is aware. He is wise and feels the truth as no one else does and knows what is beyond the horizon he now stares at. And now, he waits for what must now be. What must now take place. Finally after all of these years, it has arrived and he must deal with it as he knows to do. He and he alone, alone as he has always been, he shall deal in the only way he knows how. He stands on the hilltop, looking off into the horizon, waiting for what must be, as prophesied, and now it is here...The Encroaching Darkness.

Demise of Freedom

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Some of the most infamous words ever put to pen and paper, the foundation of the Constitution of the United States of America. Long forgotten and all but erased from the minds of those who we depend upon to lead and govern this once great nation.

Forgive me, for those who read the ramblings of the Keeper. I do feel that ours is the most wonderful nation on earth and that it still holds dreams for so many of its citizens, but my confidence in it's leadership is questionable.

Laws are necessary to ensure civilized way of life for all. Without laws, this nation, this world would be utter chaos. But when laws made, erase or erode the foundation that was laid by the founding fathers of this country, the words, the thoughts the vision of such men are no more.

Once, the people of the world envied us. They sought to leave their own home countries and journey to ours to share in its wealth and prosperity. Now, it looks as if prosperity resides in other places beside here.

What has happened over the years that have changed this nation? What has transpired to erode our own beliefs and confidence in a nation once built upon freedom? Sadly, the answer is simple. Those whom we placed our trust in and elected to office have, over time, torn down the marbleized concepts of this nation.

Money, power and the ability to participate in wrongful endeavors and manage to come out the other side clean as a whistle, tempted good men to turn their glare, their concerns away from the American public.

Current situation regarding "Obamacare". What happened to our rights and our freedom when the president tells us that we "HAVE" to have healthcare of else face civil penalty? Our freedom robbed because rich politicians decide what they want and not what we want. But keep in mind dear reader, these very hypocritical, filthy rich mindless politicians are exempt from many of the laws they say we need to live by.

Currently they enact laws that affect many people but have no concerns about the effect it has on us as a whole nation. Politicians are elected by falsehood and not based upon merits. Based upon the amount of money they have, the college they attended, or the businesses they own, are elected.

They now spend so much time with their noses in the concerns of other countries while neglecting the problems in their own backyards. Each one backing or supporting the needs of another politician as long as it will eventually benefit them in the long run.

Jobs are scarce, yet they say the economy is doing better. Gas prices soar, but yet they care not for those who barely can afford food, besides a tank of gas. Why? Simple! They do not have to worry about the price of gas for two reasons. 1) They already have enough money in their fat wallets to choke a mule, so gas isnt going to break them and, 2) the American tax payer allows them to fill their tanks on our hard work.

Every day businesses close down. Many move to other countries, setting back up with cheap labor, making their products and shipping it back here for us to buy. Every day someone somewhere in the US gets a lay off slip. Yet, those who are elected by us or hired by us to represent us in local, state and national government, have found ways or enacted laws that prohibit them from ever being dismissed from their post.

It would be so ironic, so humerous if we were able to fire them for not doing what we elected them to do. But I can't help to wonder, if we did have such power to lay off, reprimand or demote politicians, if they would do a better job.

The United States is not the worlds police department. Why should our own children die  because other countries cannot manage their own governments? Serving our country? It doesn't seem that way, it feels as if they are serving the interest of politicians.

Do not misunderstand these ramblings. I admire, respect and honor everyone who has ever served in our armed forces. They deserve far more than what they receive and it hurts me to know this. They did what their government ask them to do and sacrificed so much to do so.

To vent, rant or rave is possibly what I am doing here. Sickness or sadness to see where our country is going, based upon where it has been. Seeing that it is never going to change and that it will always be operated based upon what the rich, corporate minded people desire and not what We the people need.

The American revolution began because of such problems. The famed Boston Tea Party, far removed form the current political class of the same name, was solely due to no representation of the colonist needs in England. Our needs and voices were not heard or met in the King's court. Thus revolution!

Is it not the same today? Our voices are not heard. Our needs not met. Or problems not addressed. So very sad that our nation has falling from its true purpose. Now our freedom is taken from us little by little. Our society spoiled because of liberal beliefs from a ruling class. Democracy? Doesn't sound very much like it to me.

Sadly I feel that many of the ones who fought, died, built, devised and constructed this nation from its very inception would be so sick at how it has turned out. Maybe not the nation itself but the way it is ran. Our government is the best in the world, but those who manage it lack in so many qualifications and their responsibilities are to themselves and one another instead of those who, because of their laws, can never hold elected office.

Sickened by career politicians who have taken us to borders of a wasteland. Smiling at themselves in the mirror because of how they have made themselves filthy rich on the sweat of others. "I will continue to do a good job for the American people", they campaign promise...but yet the proof is in the pudding. We continue to fall behind, society is now ran by pathetic idiots who fear hurting someones feelings.

President elected because of his kiss ass statements and not his merits. Kissing up to those who he knew would secure his re-election. Where are the jobs? Where is the better way of life? I apparently have been in need of having my eyes checked because I do not see it here in southern West Virginia.

Demise of freedom? Yes, dear reader, sadly it is. Everything we have once loved is being ripped from out very own grasp. Hatred for those who are in office. So many who do not deserve to be there, over shadowing and over ruling the few who are honestly trying to work for the American public.

Sad, so very sad, I would not offer any elected official a drink of water if their mouths were aflame. And how could they be on fire, seeing many of them will not stop spewing their poisonous lies, constantly running, speaking, tempting, teasing, robbing ruining the American way of life.

Another Brick in the Wall

Sometime ago, years it appears now to me, I remember an old Victorian house that I would see on my way to school every day. The house was massive and had this inviting look to the front of it.

I could not recall when I last seen anyone living in this old place, nor do I remember seeing anyone ever tending to the lawn. Shrubs had grown and overtaken the place, the grass was over knee high and the paint chipping from the window seals.

But I loved this old house and of course being just a young kid in school, I never took the time to look into the houses ownership. But each day I would pass this old place and dream, thinking of the day when I would own it and spend hours repairing it, painting it, mowing the lawn and make this old place come alive once again. Allow it to become once more, the fullest of it's glory.

The years the school bus passed by that old house, each and every day, my eyes would fix themselves upon it. And each day, I would say to myself, "One day I will have a home like that".

One winter day, on the way home from school, I noticed something odd about the house. The foundation of it was constructed out of red brick, but on the left corner of the house, one brick had fallen out. Now I am not sure if that brick feel off because of the elements or maybe some vandal decided it would make them look big and bad if they just kicked the brick out. Anyway, one brick on the corner had fallen out of place.

I never paid much attention to that missing brick all winter long. Just focused on the house itself and my random thoughts of how I would fix it up and make it mine.

Near the end of the school year, the bus I rode on had stopped in front of the old house while repairs to the road were being done. This enabled me to really take a long look at the place and fuel my imagination with vivid details.

As I took in every aspect of the old house that I could, I noticed the corner of the foundation where the brick had been missing back in the winter. I had noticed that, not only had the one brick went missing, but now, the surrounding bricks were falling to the ground as well.

The first brick feel out, allowing the rain and wind to make their way into the cement that held the bricks in place. As time, cold, rain and everything else took its toll on the cement, the cement cracked, causing the surrounding bricks to loosen.

One by one, they feel to the ground. One brick leading to another and yet another. It appeared that, for every brick that cracked, another close by would fracture as well and soon, it, too, would fall silently, unnoticed to the ground. This broke my heart, sadly, watching this beautiful home be consumed by mother nature, forgotten by its owner.

The summer was spent as one usually was back in the 70's. Exploring the hillside, fishing, camping, playing with friends and all in all, having a wonderful time away from school.

When the fall season came and the yellow bus once again headed to school, carrying me to my final and senior year at Baileysville High. Meeting my friends for the first time again since school let out, we chatted, laughed and shared stories of our summer vacation.

As the bus passed the old Victorian house that morning, it stopped. A new kid was getting on the bus who had just moved into the house across the road from the old Victorian place.

There was my house that I would own someday. And now I can renew my memory of its glory and dream once again of the family I would raise there. But something was wrong! Something was so different on the old house and this had saddened me deeply.

The corner of the house where the first brick had fell off, causing other bricks to come crashing down around the vacant spot left, had changed.

The entire corner of the old house had sagged. That one spot with the missing brick had collapsed once other supporting bricks had fell off. The wooden wall had now been exposed and I could see the inside of the house form this corner.

Wooden supports that held the house up, now eaten away by rot, causing the old place to sag, the entire wall slowly collapsing in on itself.

My old house, the one I would buy one day and repair. Fix it up nicely and raise a family in it, bringing life once again back into it, was now rotting down.

Eventually, by the end of the school year, this once proud house, its frame exposed to the elements, had fallen in. Taking so much of the front and side that it was beyond repair. So sad to have seen such a beautiful place, forgotten and neglected go to waste.  Eventually, the old house feel completely to the ground and rotted away, now just a jangled mess of decaying wood. Barely noticeable of it ever being a home.

To begin building anything, one must first start with a corner. A foundation must be formed before anything can ever be constructed. From that corner the whole of the thing being constructed is supported. Without that corner, nothing can stand and eventually it all falls.

Life, is started at a corner. Something must be there to hold the rest of life together. And once that corner goes missing, like my old house, it becomes weak, unable to support itself and fades away.

Like my old house, the fallen brick is missed and anyone can tell that something is just not right with it. Eventually, without love and care, the whole of the structure will start to crack, allowing the bad things in life to seep in, working to weaken the whole. Over time, like I did with the old house, I forgot the old brick until I seen the corner of the house exposed. Then it became apparent of the damage to the frame, irreparable damage.

Perhaps, when the first brick fell, someone could have replaced it, repaired and and saved the old house. But no one seemed to care at all for it. I had wanted to but was unable, mostly because of my age and inability to make such changes to something I didn't own anyway. Wanted to stop the rot and decay, but was powerless to do so, thus, I had to watch my pretty Victorian house fall to ruin.

Are we like this house? Are we like that one little brick? Would we be missed if we weren't there? Those around us becoming exposed to harshness that will eventually weaken the family as a whole. Piece by piece, brick by brick we fall prey to decay and rot.

Once one brick has fallen, we notice the brick but do nothing to prevent the whole to rot. We say to ourselves that it is sad that such has happened and the brick will be missed, but never do we try to repair such damage and prevent future damage from occurring.

The support that one stone or one brick has made, although we may not see such support while the brick is securely in place, missed once it has fallen out. The once mighty, beautiful and proud house starts to fall. The cement that has held us together baring the elements until it can no longer stand strongly.

We notice how pretty the house was with the brick, but now see the bigger picture. If we refuse to repair the structure, saddened by the loss of the brick but make no attempts at repair, we will lose the house as a whole and thus, being forever forgotten.

Are we strong enough and willing to fix it? I would certainly hope so.

I have always felt like I was nothing in this life. I have always felt like I have made no difference to anyone and my "fallen brick" would not be missed. A few shed tears, perhaps, at my funeral, but my memory slowly fading away, and remembered no more.

But I think that assumption may have now changed for me as I think back to that once gorgeous old proud house. I look at life and my life in general and think of all the rot and decay that has it has fallen prey to. I go to the garage for the cement. I take that brick from the ground and dust it off, dress it up and cement it back into my life.

We all matter and we all are important in more ways than we think and our demise will affect more people in so many ways that we cant scarcely imagine. Our absence will make changes that ourselves and others are not even aware of and unable to even solidify in our deepest thoughts.

How do I know this? I just do and am amazed at how I came across its understanding. After all, everyone one of us is just, another brick in the wall.

It's Where The Wind Blows...

The human brain is by far, the most sophisticated computer ever created. It is able to copy, right, over right files, download, access information, learn, grow and store memories that can span over one's entire lifetime.

Safety features of that incredible organic computer allow it to shut certain memory storage areas down if it feels that those memories can or will possibly cause the body harm. Maybe this is also a short circuit fail safe device which keeps the memory intact but yet stores it safe in some obscure region of the brain, never to be played again by the act of remembrance.

In the female, the human brain has the ability and knowledge, from birth, to recreate human life. Argue me this? Sure, then I will have to ask you how such a life is formed inside of another life form, the body's own defense system shutting down while the embryo grows, thus stopping the mother's own immune system from sensing the embryo as a parasite inside the mother, thus killing it off. So, indeed, all of this is commanded by the brain. Running daily diagnostic of the body as a whole, even while we sleep.

I like to think of the brain as a large warehouse, filled with hundreds if not thousands of doors. Some locked, some hidden from the light of thought, stuck in the back, covered in dust, wanting never to be found. Inside those doors are where we store memories or certain feeds of information. And it amazes me how sounds, smells or some random photo accesses those doors, opening the memory where those items were fist experienced.

A weeping willow tree first shooting its leaves forth in the spring, remind me of Easter at my Grandma Della's yard. A certain type of pine smell, reminds me of a caroler candle my mom had since god only knows when, but we only seen and smelled its fragrance at Christmas.

Once the willow is seen every spring, that memory comes back. When I am somewhere and the odor of that candle captures my attention, I think of my mom's candle. Keys, if you will. Keys that open those thousands of doors that are hidden deep with-in my brain. Doors kept with a fail safe, hopefully preserving my memories for the remainder of my life.

Sometimes we smell just a hint of a familiar fragrance or hear maybe one or two notes of a song. "I know that", we say and wreck our minds the whole day trying to recall the name or the song or the place or thing we associate the smell with. Sometimes we can't figure it out and it ends in frustration, other times a friend may be the one who spent time on google looking up four or five words to let me know that a long forgotten song that I loved, although not knowing the name of it, was Strawberry Letter 22. Years of me hearing a few bars of it but never catching the words, thus never knowing the name of it...ending in frustration.

Sometimes those doors spring open or the keys are lost or forgotten and the contents behind the doors are lost forever. Such as the case for those who have dementia or alzheimer's. Keys lost or the owners forgotten ability to access the doors of the mind. The brains fail safe shutting down, memories lost forever.

In any case, we depend on those things to help us access long forgotten memories and where would we be without those? A man is the sum of his memories, all that we were, are and will become are based upon what we remember, so if we are not able to remember, what will we then become?

As I browse my warehouse...the one in my mind and not the one upstairs in the attic, I have found so many doors long shut and appears their hinges have even been welded tight to prevent my access to what lies behind them.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot seem to find the key that will allow me to open any of them. But desperate to unlock each one and peek to see what memories lie inside, long covered in mental dust, forgotten.

I need to know what is in them. I need to know why I hate the thought of my birthday and no, it has nothing to do with me growing old. Although I am ever more mindful of that now that I ever have been.

I need to know why I have hated the Christmas season. Why I wish it would become illegal to celebrate, being just two more days in December just like all the other days. But knowing how much money people make at that time of the year form buying the perfect gift for someone who can't be satisfied, it will never be outlawed.

There is a reason why I hate those days in particular. There must be some hidden memory that my mind has associated the hatred for these days with. I must know what that is so I can deal with it, find peace and move on. And yes, maybe letting those few who care for me find peace as well, able now to celebrate a holiday with them and them for me with joy as it was meant to be.

One song in particular, 10CC's "I'm not in Love", is one such song that stirs or jars a string of memory in me. The music, not the lyrics, has an effect on me and always has had. The first chorus part of the song, with the instrumental, hints of a hidden memory somewhere in my mental warehouse and one that I am unable to open. No matter how hard I try to associate that with any one thing, it eludes me, escapes me.

As Khan said in Star Trek II, "He task me and I shall have him, I will chase him round the moons of Nibia, around the Mailstrom Nebula and round perdition's flames before I give it up." I need to know what is hidden, the answers to all my questions may lie inside those doors long since shut tight.

But what if, what if those doors were permanently closed for a reason? The self preservation, fail safe mechanism I spoke of earlier? What if there is some traumatic memory lying inside that I so desperately need to keep shut and forgotten. If the door is open, will it cause so much mental anguish for me that I may never recover? Get really pissed at someone for doing me such an incredible injustice that I seek to do them bodily harm in retaliation? The answers to these questions will only come when the keys are found. When the music is associated with the memory. When that dam door is open and I can once again live whatever that was that caused my system to lock it down, shut it off and keep it from me.

Wait! Isn't it my brain? My memories? My body? Shouldn't it be me who decides if those doors should remain closed or open? Should not I be the one who peeks inside, sorts through the mess and comes out clean? It is my brain and I own it so should it not obey me and provide the answer to the keys location? GIVE ME MY DAM KEYS!!!

What right does my brain have denying me access to my memories? Isn't it already messed up enough over the last 49 years that, we should both open the closets and clean them out together and maybe, just maybe, set things in proper order once again.

Our brains...grey matter organic computer. Ruler of the human body. Allowing me to think I am in charge of this fleshly container, but denying me access to all of its functions. Denying me the ability to heal myself and regenerate aging flesh. If we can create life, why can we not reverse the same?

Our brains...grey matter organic computer. Always tempting us to look for those doors it has hit from us. Drawing us to them, arousing curiosity but never allowing us to gain access knowing we can't live with something secret being hidden in plain view.

Until then, I will listen, carefully, over and over to the song. i will search random thought processes and access any bit of data I can from that aging grey matter dictator inside my skull. I will outsmart it and find the key, then those doors will be open and God have mercy on my brain on that day.

Random memories, thoughts, feelings, association with things hidden. Drawing me, tempting me, harassing me, arousing my inner curiosity. It's where dreams are kept. It's why we dream, why I dream. Downloading and filing memories while I sleep, vaporous clouds of memory solidified into a dream, one which fades as my eyes open.

Memories..hidden, covered up, long forgotten. It's where I wish to be, where I wish to explore. It's where answers come to light, revealing things to me my mind chose and or decided I need not know any longer.....It's where the wind blows.