Trapped & Doomed
Dealing with Hypocrisy & Superficiality
October 8, 2004
Trudging along the darkened paths,
Through mist and fog...
And choppy waters, buried in oblivion.
Perceiving not reality... Alas!
Stumbling on man-made snags,
Bushes and boughs — entering delirium.
Forgetting of this universe's past,
Neglecting the authentic truth
And acting like an odious chameleon.
This dreadful feeling will not pass —
Increasing only...
Compassion is concealed at the aphelion.
Background Story
University life wasn't easy by any means. It was my sophomore year at the University of Manitoba, and I should've been used to this, but I wasn't. My youngest brother had been murdered right before I started university, and I spent most of my first university year in isolation, studying my textbooks. As a result, I hadn't been exposed to the drunkenness, depravity and superficiality of the people around me. At least, that's how they seemed to me at the time.
Having come from a small isolated town, which anyone from Canada would call a trip back in time, I had still had very strong moral values, and the constant lewdness and ribaldry was too much for me to deal with. This poem reflects those thoughts and gives a glimpse of what I was going through. Like an "odious chameleon", I felt I had to give in to the values of the majority and accept this world, of which I wanted no part, and there was no one to support me in my struggle. My sophomore year was my third year in Canada, but it was then that I finally had my first culture shock... and it was devastating.
Having come from a small isolated town, which anyone from Canada would call a trip back in time, I had still had very strong moral values, and the constant lewdness and ribaldry was too much for me to deal with. This poem reflects those thoughts and gives a glimpse of what I was going through. Like an "odious chameleon", I felt I had to give in to the values of the majority and accept this world, of which I wanted no part, and there was no one to support me in my struggle. My sophomore year was my third year in Canada, but it was then that I finally had my first culture shock... and it was devastating.