Mark Antony Rossi- A Poem

Mark Antony Rossi's poetry, criticism, fiction and photography have appeared in The Antigonish Review, Another Chicago Review, Bareback Magazine, Black Heart Review, Collages & Bricolages, Death Throes,  Ethical Spectacle, Gravel, Flash Fiction, Japanophile, On The Rusk, Purple Patch, Scrivener Creative Review, Sentiment Literary Journal, The Sacrificial ,Wild Quarterly and Yellow Chair Review.
 http://markantonyrossi.jigsy.com


Soma and the Unknowing Slave

I grew up with Huxley tucked in my heart
His brave new world was orderly
Next to degrading urban decay.

I craved his seductive soma
I wanted to explore the outer reaches
I created a possible path way forward

I grew with Huxley eyeless in north jersey
Forming facts faster than light beams
Finding friendship fleeting and feckless

But a library is a home when homes are lost
And a library is a church where angels are afraid
And a library is a clinic to close old wounds

Huxley, a nearly blind man, opened my eyes
To the seduction of freedom void of ethics
And what of rights without responsibility

This is the slave ignorant to his slavery.
Yes be free but be smart
For a free society depends on more
Than bravery.