Twenty-seven

A man is an island, distant and remote
But most of us find our bridges, most of us learn to build our boats
Come to terms with society and its many rules
Do what we’re told - reset and reboot
Except, that’s not everyone’s fate
For not everyone swallows that pill, not everyone takes the bait 
Geniuses and madmen tend often to ask why
How did we get here - answer first, don’t ask us to just get by
It matters not, their enquiry, they’re often told
Jettison your doubts and your questions, ease into the fold
Knowledge and wisdom accumulated over the years
Lights that people have lit, culture is, long before you got here
Might you and I still seek answers? When the question’s been flipped
No, likely not, we don’t dare to swim - we drift
Only, consensus and pressure, an open mind unabashedly ignores
Peak in, seek nirvana, experience, push through those doors
Quixotic and curious, these men and women travel through time
Reversible is their music, hear their thoughts, rewind
Silent, though now, are the flowers on their graves
Too young, they left, their fate took no slaves
Unearthed each time a record plays, are their questions, their lines
Vicariously they live, vicariously they shine
When you ask me then, why they left soon after twenty-six
‘Xited the stage, why'd they escape the mix
You see I’ve run of letters to stitch an answer, I’ve run out of lines
Zeitgeist, they are now - they’ve become the spirits of our times