The Existential Song

Once upon a time There was a person Running for his life. This was his fate. It was a hard fate. But Fate is Fate. He had to keep running He began to wonder about Fate And running for dear life Who? Why? And was he nothing But some dummy hare on a racetrack? At last he made up his mind. He was nobody's fool. It would take guts But yes he could do it. Yes yes he could stop. Agony! Agony Was the wrenching Of himself from his running. Vast! And sudden The stillness In the empty middle of the desert. Thеre he stood – stopped. And sincе he couldn't see anybody To North or to West or to East or to South He raised his fists Laughing in awful joy And shook them at the Universe And his fists fell off And his arms fell off He staggered and his legs fell off It was too late for him to realize That this was the dogs tearing him to pieces That he was, in fact, nothing But a dummy hare on a racetrack And life was being lived only by the dogs.

despair existence narrative poem dark

The Existential Song - meaning Summary

Freedom Within a Chase

The poem turns a simple chase into a bleak parable about freedom and survival. A man running for his life tries to reject the fate imposed on him, believing that stopping will prove his independence. Instead, he discovers that his movement was all that kept him intact: he is only a mechanical lure, while the pursuing dogs possess the real life and agency. The ending makes his revolt tragically powerless.

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