They called me a killer,
But my hands are clean.
Tried to tie me down,
But my soul was set free.
Pushin’ and pullin’ and swearin’ all around,
But they ain’t never gettin’ through to me.
I still remember the night they arrived,
No time for pleasantries,
Nor polite words exchanged.
They broke down my door,
With harsh words and frowns,
Demanding that I confess,
To the sins only my Maker could judge me for.
They drug me from my bed,
Delirious and awe-struck at the Midnight Mob,
Now invading my home.
They carried me off,
Blindfolded and gagged,
To a jury by moonlight,
Where no mind was present,
That wasn’t made up.
We went through the motions,
Though mine were through string,
With a puppet master reliving my oppression,
Through my stoic stance and gallant grimaces.
“You have been brought before us,
for crimes unquestionable.
For transgressions unpardonable and unparalleled.
You are here, for treason, to put it simply.
You have revolted against us,
And in doing so,
Though unaware to your naive consciousness,
Revolted against yourself.
We have ingrained ourselves in you to the point that it is ludicrous for you to reshape us.
To mold us is to destabilize what you call yourself.
That is why we cannot find you at complete fault.
There is no possible way a biological creature could sacrifice themselves so meaninglessly.
We find a fault with your mind,not your body.
Therefore, we must sufficiently punish the source, while avoiding any collateral damage.
Yous till have a role to fill in this society.
You will be rehabilitated.”
At this long refrain,
A veil seemed to lift from my eyes,
And a clenched fist surrendered my throat.
I stood with a new air of a new era.
I spoke to the judge with disdain and fire dripping from my lips,
With my soul slipping out on the tail coats of sentences;
Now was not the time for disgression,
So I published my manifesto vocally:
“You claim the right to judge my actions?
You’re overstepping your jurisdiction by a bit more than a leap.
Your power lies within maintaining the rules in place by society,
You are an enforcer, not an interpreter.
My role in this conflict is to challenge your system because it does not fit me.
There is no place for an individual within your walls, which are much too cramped for our sort of lifestyle.
You seem to think that I am making an insane decision by risking my life in order to live outside your safety.
However, your perception is most obviously skewed and biased,
For what you are asking me to do,
By standing behind and in front of all of you, disappearing into your ranks,
Is willingly commit suicide.
You are asking me to sacrifice my individuality, a system in which I am the pinnacle of all efforts and projects,
Where I am King, citizen, police and scholar.
You are asking me to sacrifice myself,
My chance at ruling the infinite chaos that seeps into every crack of existence all around us,
In order to be a part of a machine that I will never understand?
That I will never be able to comment on and be effective?
You are asking me to give up autonomy for complacency,
Which leaves little more than a bad taste on my tongue and heavy footprint in my ribs.
You appeal to a sense of loyalty that you put in place!
You invoke my “duty” to my brothers?!
How dare you belittle my duties.
You know nothing of loyalty or duties or perseverance until you have lived in my world, a clash against you, and somehow remained faithful to Her Majesty, Truth.
I am empowering my fellow Individuals by resisting you,
Even if my cause makes me into a martyr.
I will resist you.
I will not surrender to you,
Not today, nor any other day you will ever know.
This is my life,
I have been delivered here of my own choice,
Which is more than I could imagine of you.
Do what you will with me,
But you have no right to my mind.
You have no claim.
You have taken my body by the language it understands: force,
But a man’s mind does not respond so similarly.
I am a Rebel,
From Birth until Death.”
Though the crowd had arisen with eager intent at the begining of my speech,
As it drew to an end, I could see the dull cloud once again return to their hazy eyes.
The Judge merely shook his head and ordered me away,
To try and isolate the poison before it spread to the rest of their precious machine.
So they beleve they have me bested,
By locking my silhouette behind iron bars,
But little do they know that my mind wanders afar,
And leaps from prisons and mountains alike,
Treating them both as mere stepping stones.
There are others like me,
So I rest assured.
My time has come,
But the era of the Individual has not yet met its end.