The Outside Looking Up

Clarity oft brings the world into a focus we would rather keep distorted. A thousand outdated phrases may involve little more than a witty roll from the tongue, but understand that ignore truly is bliss and you might very well find yourself at the door to understanding this life. How ironic is it that despite the limitless curiosity of man, the downfall of many is little more than a deficiency of ignorance? From our earliest youth we are taught to understand, and yet like the magician who reveals his secrets the world's magic slowly wanes and crumbles. In the rubble we work out a meager existence but never truly recreate the wonder that was the illusion. Perhaps understanding is not the objective of this world; perhaps it is the disqualifying infraction.

I find myself running out of thoughts to hang on, watching each handhold break under the weight of my grasp. I will not fall for some time, and doubt that I will jump any time soon, but my attempts to ascend to such a high peak have all been wasted or broken. I stare at a tall and bare cliff that I must attempt to climb. It is too high, I concede, and I now knowingly embrace that it is forever out of my short reach. It had once seemed so close... now it is so very far. Perhaps the worst facet of this tortuous climb is that I can still see its apex above me. I can still smell the faint aroma of all I seek. I can almost taste. But I never will. On days like this I wish I had never raised my eyes to the sky; I wish I had never sought clarity from the depth of distortion. And though I cannot bear to stand here, on the outside looking up, my heart aches to know that the world will always be looking very, very, down.