The Saga of the People with the See-Through Heads
© 1986 by Jonathan Ellers
Once there were people with see-through heads
made of glass. And all that could ever be said
could be seen therewithin, while still just a thought;
much as—in a bowl—one sees a fish that’s been caught.
Thoughts meant for teasin’ were red as a ribbon,
and green was the hue designated for fibbin’,
and yellow was “happy,” and purple was “sad,”
and blue was “romantic” and rumors were plaid.
“Meek” thoughts were spotted, and “stalwart” had stripes;
and triangles signified all kinds of gripes.
And patterns with checks were for thoughts that were greedy.
And circles meant “no.” And stars meant “yes, indeedy!”
But, they had a problem with making no sound:
the need to communicate—all year ‘round—
the thoughts that inside their heads floated and hovered.
So, even in winter, their heads went uncovered.
And then—in the winter—there came a great freeze.
And it was so cold, they all fell to their knees,
for the fluid between their two ears was freezin’,
and thoughts ended up in their kleenex through sneezin’.
So…to keep all the people from getting “much dumber,”
the president called in a Cranial Plumber
who bored a small hole just beneath all their noses,
and piped in warm air through a series of hoses.
And that was the way all the people were saved!
And they had a great party! And everyone raved
of the way that the plumber had handled their cases!
But then they remembered….the holes in their faces.
And they looked at each other, and saw the deformity.
And then it struck them: the awesome enormity
of having a hole ‘twixt their nose and their chin!
It was so absurd….that they started to grin.
And that was the first time they’d e’er seen a smile!
They thought it delightful! They liked the new style!
Then something else happened (you don’t know the half).
That whole race of people? They started to laugh.
The giggled! They chortled! They hooted and howled!
They “ha-ha”d and “hee-hee”d! And then they allowed
as how these were both good things, this “laughing,” and “grinning!”
How could they know it would lead to such sinning?
The plumber did offer to plug up each orifice,
knowing that where one wins, one also forfeits
a vict’ry or two—where there’s good there is evil.
He know too much “goodness” could cause an upheaval.
But his offer, the people, they firmly refused!
“Such a gift,” they rejoindered, “could not be abused!”
And then they grew wide-eyed at what had occurred:
to reply to the plumber, they’d said the first “word!”
And then words abounded! The power of speech!
They all were astounded! What lay in their reach
with such a fine plaything knew no bounds at all! ’
’Twas like a new toy that holds children in thrall!
So….the pages of history continued to turn.
And they used their new words to teach, and to learn.
For hundreds of years they perfected their language.
And, after awhile, they began to know anguish.
For they spoke so much, they’d begun to take
for granted their clear heads, which then grew opaque,
and obscured exact meanings of words that were spoken.
And a whole flock of evils, thereby, was awoken.
They misunderstood, and took things the wrong way,
arousing suspicions one could not allay
with the merest kind thought, as they could before
when their heads could be seen into right to the core.
They misjudged each other—were quick to accuse.
And sight of their ‘likeness they began to lose.
And where they had once been on great race of Man,
each joined a new country, religion, or clan.
This new separation spawned mucho misconduct.
They spied on each other. And then they tucked
notes inside halters on pigeons, which flew to headquarters
informing of “bad guys” encroaching their borders.
They warred on each other with great big bazookas.
And each claimed, forthrightly, “we’re better than you,
’cause you know naught of us, but WE know of YOU
and the ridiculous things you believe in and do!
So God wiped them out. He’d been pretty ticked off
at the way they behaved like their brains had gone soft.
He’d been perfectly happy with things as they’d been,
back when clear-headed thinking was the thinking of men.
So he put an idea in their poor addled pates
to hasten them all toward their showdowns with Fates.
And sure ‘nough, they all conflagrated themselves.
And up in his heaven, God took from the shelves
all the stuff to whip up a new batch of mankind.
And he used all his knowledge to fashion a mind
that did not need “see-through”-ness to understand clearly
that all men are equal, and should behave “peer”-ly.
Then he brushed all the ash from the burned-up planet,
and told the new folks “Those before you who ran it
got caught up in ‘words’ and forgot the import-
ance of ‘getting along.’ And now they are ‘mort.’
“And so don’t let your mouth-hole have things it’s own way!
Y’get caught up in words, you’ll discover one day
that your thought’s been obscured by the words you have said.
And you’ll wish that you had…a see-through head.”
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