POEM - Doors of Perception

If the weather hadn't been so perfect
The fading light just right
Melting into the deepening gold ocean
If I hadn't been in California
Watching the sunset
Glint and shine
Off the glass fences
Providing unobstructed views
To the denizens of perched cliff dwellings
As the lazy surf rolled silently 

On the wide sandy border far below
Maybe the earth wouldn't have shook
Like San Andrea had a grudge
Against me personally
Cracked my foundation
Rattled my windows
Made me stumble over words
Like a drunken wino on a raucous Saturday bender

I honestly didn't know
Nor was I prepared
For the revelation
Standing there on the warm hardwood floors
While the quirky record shop owner
Journeyed through musical tangents
Spinning the deepest vinyl cuts
All of us riding the same wavelength
Until the rouge wave caught me unawares
Toppled me
Sent me sinking
A new understanding
An open door slamming shut
I had to suddenly come to terms
With the now unavoidable fact
That not everyone likes The Doors
And even more really hate Jim Morrison

And for a moment
I lost my Lizard King
Left exposed as a small child
Self-aware of uncertainties and doubt
Lost and wandering on deaths highway dreaming
The ghosts of my dawning reality 

Crowding my fragile eggshell mind

A moment that seemed an eternity passed
And I was back
Changing the course of conversation
Steering clear of important matters
Loss of faith averted
Replaced by a small perception
The tiniest of revelations
Like the Little Prince and his drawings
Small things tell big stories
So I swerved
Left off talk of gold mines
Weird scenes and dusky queens
Replaced by discussion of equipment and speakers
Turntables and sonic qualities
Made my purchase
Stepped back into the coastal twilight
Resumed my spot in the Soft Parade
Waited till the music was over
As the night turned out the lights