2008 August 30 poem: I WENT OUT

I WENT OUT

to enjoy the cool dark and to
exercise my night vision, but there are those
who think they know better than you what's good
for you and who never even heard of
night vision and can't understand that maybe someone who has
lived more than twice as long as they have might
know something they don't. These hideous conformity police
come running after you if you exercise your
powers; you are not supposed to have powers; they
have power and you must need their help, that's
all there is to it. It was
beautiful while it lasted, though - maybe two or three
minutes - moving slowly in the cool, just
beginning to see. No
starlight, only
reflected earthlight from the cloudy air. Maybe I can
figure out how to
get out without warning of my absence; after all
I'll be in this place for many, many months, time
to figure out a lot of things. I'll be the
maverick patient, the
bane of their existence, and they'll
love it, they love eccentricity as
long as it's
somebody else's.