The Earthling

PART ONE: HIS IMPROBABLE ANCESTRY

A DISSERTATION ON MR. DUDLEY: MAN IN THE MIRROR

Oh well, another day another dollar, eh Mr. Dudley?
But first we have to get past the mirror
Don't we Mr. Dudley?
Just whose face is that we see here today?
Is it the same one we saw yesterday?
It must be.
It sure isn't the face of your memories is it Mr. Dudley?
No, the face of your past had no lines,
It was crowned with dark brown hair
And it reflected the optimism of youth.
This one reflects only wrinkles, gray hair, and
The dour pessimism of middle-age.

What's wrong Mr. Dudley? Do your temples ache a little?
Maybe you had a little too much to drink last night.
Could that be it?
You remember when you didn't need to drink at night
Don't you Mr. Dudley?
You use to be able to go home at night
Enjoy the wife and kids, and go to bed a happy man.
But the wife and kids are all gone now,
Aren't they Mr. Dudley?
They were driven away by the frustrations of a man
Slowly being crushed to death by the weight of
Time and misfortune.

What's that? Another wrinkle on your brow?
What put that one there, Mr. Dudley?
Was it worry about man's increasing animalism towards man,
Worry about the Global Warming,
Or worry about our vanishing resources?
That would be just like you Mr. Dudley,
Always worrying about things you have no control over.
But you still you worry, and still it does no good.
True you had tried to work for some solutions,
But time, defeats, and apathy quickly ebbed your desires
So you gave up.

You look a little heavier today, Mr. Dudley.
Are you gaining more weight?
It doesn't really matter anymore does it Mr. Dudley?
The girls all stopped looking years ago, didn't they?
They all want lean, handsome, virile young men.
The kind you see in the commercials
When you watch your TV at night.

No woman wants a Mr. Dudley any more, do they Mr. Dudley?
Men like you are anachronisms, things of the past
Like love-ins, peace signs, and psychedelic music,
You and they are all retired to the museums of the mind.