Words and Numbers

   Age 1

No one ever expects to live until true adulthood
until they wake up and discover it has already happened.
We may have lived recklessly,
shouting in the streets about how we
are not afraid to die.
All along we were afraid to live.
We were afraid to grow old.
We were afraid to take care of ourselves.
Afraid to have something to live for.
This would go against everything we believed.
If we had a reason to live,
we would have a reason to be afraid to die.

    Six Lines Part 1

The devil without horns is simply a man.
Since he is simply a man
he becomes unfathomably more terrifying.
Good comes as easy to him
as evil.
Terrifying and intoxicating.

 
    Age 2

People crave tragedy.
Things were not easier when you were younger.
They would have been if you where who you are here, then
but you were not.
Things are just as hard to take here
as they were then.
A friend has died.
You lost your teddy bear.
Tragedy is what you make it.
Is it good?
Is it bad?
It is.

    Six Lines Part 2

Life presents passion.
Love and hate share the same string
strung taut to reverberate
towards love or hate.
Pluck it up or down.
It leads to the same end.

 
    Age 3

Reality changes your perceptions over time.
Reality eventually teaches you to know
what will make you successful and comfortable.
The uneasiness of giving in keeps you restless
and unwilling to endure it for now.
But for how long?
You worry everyday that maybe you are wrong.
Even though it still feels right.
It becomes harder and harder to endure.
Complacency.

    Six Lines Part 3

Motionless is not a virtue.
To be at peace
is to be dead.
Fight against the will to rest.
Seeking better fortunes
is the doctrine of man.


    Age 4

You can say it honestly.
You can do it.
Things could go wrong
but the only thing you will lose is face.
At least that is true here.
After so many years all you can ask
is not why.
All you can ask is why not?

    Six Lines Part 4

Motion creates motion.
It is great and dynamic.
It is terrible and dynamic.
It is what it is.
It is what you are
or what you will inevitably be.


    Age 5

You hope for an age of reason.
When there is so much to be seen and heard
you believe it to be true.
You believe you live within an age of reason.
When there is nothing to be heard and seen
you know it is not.
This is not an age of reason.
You know that something is wrong
even when so much is right.
You cannot lie to yourself
even when you lie to those you love the most.
You let everyone you know
that you believe everything is great.
You look at everything you have
that so many before you never imagined.
The things that others on this planet
will never know.
The things that others on this planet
will eternally covet without catharsis.
You are thankful.
You do not think being thankful is enough.
You know something is wrong

    Six Line Part 5


You know you are right.
You know you can make it better.
Everyone you know is expendable.
They will die for your cause.
Their name will go down in history.
Your name will go down in history.


    Age 6

We have always loved you, understood.

    Six Lines Part 6

We
Will
Never
Love
You,
Understood?


    Age 7

    You sat with friends in drink and smoke.
Discussion was ripe for the picking.
Everyone had something on their mind.
Everyone was excited to hear
what others had on their mind.
 An eagerness to talk.
A willingness to listen.
    It was not true , but you felt maybe
everything could be alright in the world
if everyone simply tried a little harder.
    A friend said studies in human biology show
that a person sheds one hundred percent of their cells
every seven years. You bought it hook line and sinker.
You felt good.
That is all it took.

    Six columns Part 1

Oh man you totally bought it.


Aaron C. Molden