What if Quixote wasn’t mad after all?
What if the windmills really were
the dragons and monsters he saw?
What if I’m not mad after all?
What if the shadows really are
living and breathing and alive?
How I long for a horse to mount,
armor to wear and a lance to flag!
Thundering in to shatter the shadows!
What if Quixote wasn’t really mad?
What if there really were waving arms,
flashing red eyes and stout bodies there?
What if I’m not really paranoid or insane?
If the danger I see is real, then who are they,
those one who spend their days saying, “no”?
What if it is just me and the old Don who
can see them for what they are?
We can’t be alone, where are you all?
Have they locked us all away in our cells?
Made of sitcoms, press releases and tweets,
trapped by the easy to swallow lies called ‘news’.
Escape! Sharpen your swords! Rise up!
We can’t be wrong when we know we are right.
Rise up! Rise up! The shadows and windmills live!
Sunflower Poetry 
Mama Zen said,
February 10, 2012 at 11:17 pm
I love the last two stanzas!
shanyns said,
February 10, 2012 at 11:43 pm
Thanks! 🙂 Great to see you!
claudia said,
February 12, 2012 at 7:39 pm
nice…smiles…you and Don Quixote..probably out there are some more who see but sometimes this can be quite uncomfortable and feels like fighting against windmills…esp. when politics related…smiles..
shanyns said,
February 12, 2012 at 7:45 pm
You said it Claudia! 🙂 It’s very strange to be riding with the Don!
Laurie Kolp said,
February 12, 2012 at 7:50 pm
Thought-provoking and very convincing… I really enjoyed it!
shanyns said,
February 12, 2012 at 7:59 pm
Laurie – thanks. I was really living it and had to write it as well. Glad you enjoyed it. Super glad to see you stop by!
brian miller said,
February 12, 2012 at 8:06 pm
nice…this def picks up pace as it goes along…we label people insane and put them away when they challenge our thought process and the established norm…or even sometimes to protect the king…
shanyns said,
February 12, 2012 at 8:11 pm
Thanks Brian…for your comment and for coming by. We, too often, label the new or different insane and make it easier to dismiss and discount it and the person who is speaking it. Voice in the wilderness is still a voice!
Taylor said,
February 12, 2012 at 8:21 pm
powerful imaginations….
poem on.
Happy Sunday.
shanyns said,
February 12, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Thanks Taylor! Great that you stopped by!
booguloo said,
February 12, 2012 at 8:29 pm
I love this quote:
Our greatest foes, and whom we must chiefly combat, are within.
Miguel de Cervantes
Nice Poem.
shanyns said,
February 12, 2012 at 8:31 pm
You are so right! Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts, appreciate it.
Heaven said,
February 12, 2012 at 9:09 pm
I like your take on this…very creative mention of Don Quixote and the windmills ~
shanyns said,
February 12, 2012 at 10:20 pm
thanks! and thanks for stopping by.
Chazzy Chazz said,
February 12, 2012 at 10:53 pm
I once sat across from Don Quixote at a psychodrama. I was the guy with no name, from Beckett. I think you know and your poem understands how close the madness of Quixote is to those nameless ones who seek to know themselves. The Don knew that without dreams and ideals we would perish in nonbodyness! Bravo for your words that call us to arms against the real illusions, the consumer nightmare!
shanyns said,
February 12, 2012 at 11:10 pm
THANK YOU! You saw it, you get it! Great that you stopped by.
Susie Clevenger said,
February 13, 2012 at 5:52 am
Love this…Don Quixote seems quite sane as to what “visions” our politicians have for our future…I would rather follow a man chasing windmills than one who knows what he speaks is a lie.
shanyns said,
February 13, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Susie – ain’t that the truth! Thanks for sharing, and for coming by. Great to see you.
nissa_amas_katoj said,
February 13, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Loved it! But then again they say I’m crazy too. But maybe my cats really are conspiring against me.
shanyns said,
February 13, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Thanks for coming by, and you really do have to watch out for those cats. They are tricky! 🙂
Zoe said,
February 13, 2012 at 11:07 pm
Great poem – i love the initial juxtaposition but then the power in this comes from those last 2 stanzas. Rise up indeed – there are many monsters out there in the shadows. i see them too, sister warrior!
shanyns said,
February 14, 2012 at 2:08 am
Zoe! I know you see see them and know them. We won’t stop, even if it means we are the last two who can see them for what they really are!