Whenever I ask people how they are doing, a typical reply is that they’re “living the dream!” My response, accompanied by a smile, is to ask them if they’re living their dream or someone else’s dream.
It’s a good question to ponder.
Many people are driven to set goals, make plans, and work hard to achieve outcomes that will lead to living a life they’ve always dreamed of living. Traveling down a specific path doesn’t always lead to the life we want to live. We often discover a startling, unwelcome truth during our journey. We are pawns trapped on another person’s chess board, existing solely to fulfill their dreams at the expense of our own.
Living the dream is a good thing — if you’re living your dream. That’s the inspiration behind my latest poem.
“Living the dream!” An upbeat response, given to a basic greeting question, invites a second two-part question. Are you living your dream? or living someone else's dream? Free will is a pure illusion, while trapped inside a complex maze running a predetermined route observed by omniscient, scornful eyes. Hope is a fleeting mirage, while flailing like a puppet on stage controlled by invisible strings, guided by cruel, arbitrary hands. Knowledge is a faded vision, while programmed like a computer given mundane tasks to complete, imagined by cunning, tyrannical minds. “Living the dream!” An impossible fantasy sidesteps a basic greeting question, invites a second two-part question. Can you live your dream? while living someone else's dream?
Did you enjoy this poem? Check out my other poetry in the Strange New Worlds archives.
