I once knew a lunatic
Now, it is fairly common for people to claim
That they have known a lunatic
Or two
Or at least someone who is fairly looney
But I'm not talking about a run-of-the-mill oddball here
No, this...*ahem*...gentleman was much more than simply Weird
Far beyond what must folks would say quailified as
Out of his gourd
This man was a genuine, court-certified, as-seen-on-TV
Lunatic
He was considered a "low-risk" lunatic, however
Not much of a danger to himself, or others
He lived under a bridge in the warmer months
In abandoned buildings when it got cold
Or the Brother Francis shelter
He did not like to be around people
Said he could see people for what they really were
Said he could see past the disguises
Everyone wore
Most people were not-so-clevery disguised, he said,
As Saints
But there were very few Saints, he said. There were millions
Of demons
And all of them, every last one of them, had but one purpose:
To trick you into betraying someone, or worse, betraying
Yourself
You may be wondering how I got to know this lunatic
Well enough to get to know so much about a man
Who did not like people, thinking they were all demons
Out to trick him
It would be great if I could claim that he saw I clearly wasn't a
Demon
But that wasn't the case
I met him one sunny Saturday evening in August
When I was fishing down at Ship Creek
He came up to me and introduced himself
Saying
"Hello, my name is Steven. May I ask you a question?"
I replied, "Sure, what can I help you with?"
And he said, matter of a factly and in all seriousness,
"Why are you disguised as a tree?"
Which caught me a bit off guard.
Then he said "Do you mind if I talk with you for awhile? I haven't had a real conversation in a long, long time"
Then he paused for a minute
Before continuing with, "...and I really enjoy talking to trees."
No comments:
Post a Comment