Haiku: The Crazy One
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My name is Clarence.
I'm a mouse trapped in a cage--
a world that's made up.
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I hear someone speak,
but I'm alone in the dark,
just too scared to move.
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Pawns, Queens, and nonsense
guided by Lewis Carroll
down a maze of lies.
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Stepping through the door,
a black cat crosses my path.
Bad luck, or just fate?
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My wife and daughter
meet me at the street, smiling.
I kiss them goodbye.
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Later, I see them:
messages from the unknown
spread across the walls.
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My fountain pen dries,
scribbling detective jargon.
Notes left by vandals?
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I'm an idiot,
a hitchhiker down this road.
My car's in the shop.
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At lunch, the train leaves.
Of course, I have no ticket,
just excerpts and clues.
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I've read the books well:
"Beware of the Jabberwock",
whatever that is.
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I talk to myself
as I get to the station;
just sad metaphors.
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A cup of tea smiles
and I drink very slowly,
past its boiling point.
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They call for tickets--
I obviously have none.
But a girl saves me.
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Her name: Trinity,
a "hacker from the outside".
(She must be crazy)
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In a daze, I ask:
"How could you possibly know?"
All she did was grin.
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Soon, we both get off,
discussing reality.
But I don't get it.
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Enemies approach--
men in dark ties and glasses.
Time starts slowing down.
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A flurry of speed!
Trinity takes them both on,
and almost loses.
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The hacker is hurt.
She asks for a phone nearby,
but not for medics.
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I am befuddled
as I help her to the booth.
What is going on?
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I see a black cat,
then I look back to the girl--
she's already gone.
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Walking to the curb
I see my car, fixed and new.
I thank the woman.
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Soon, I drive back home.
My family is waiting;
their eyes seem hollow...
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Their skin rips apart.
Tall men in suits -- inside them?
I run, horrified.
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I lose the agents,
narrowly escaping them
within the darkness.
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So, that's the story.
The ones I love are all dead,
and I'm still alive.
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I sit here, crying.
Only madness consumes me;
my eyes are reddened.
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There's no Trinity,
no Red Queen, and no Clarence.
Who the hell am I?
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END