Will And Freedom Poem by Saul Eldon

Will and freedom are confidence tricks
Counterfeiters' tools of self deception
And the jagged, hidden rocks on which
Hearts and reason break.

We trudge our lives step by step
With the blind footfalls of automatons
Goaded at the point of time's arrow
In servitude to our delusions of free-will
While we shuffle towards vicarious immortality.

Here is one who thinks himself free
Yet his every step is prescribed
And in lockstep with the hidden clockwork
He is but a puppet
Dancing to the tune of invisible strings
In thrall to a dumb show
Of shadows and bright illusions.

We live our lives in a candle flame
The brief burning we can but contemplate
With impotent rage.
As in a cage, dashing ourselves against iron bars
Our dreams' ashes in drifts about our feet
As we yearn for freedom's fraudulent sleight of hand
Its comforting myths and gaudy baubles
And all the while the hidden puppeteer
Twitches the unseen strings