When it takes dreaded

introspection to extract

the kaleidoscope within, 

it's far easier to opt

for the cardboard cutouts

trotted out to please, 

encouraged by the epoch

of caricatures reigning

supreme, esteemed

far more highly than 

complex flesh and blood

that won't always conform

to the prescribed response,

the one inscribed

in the annals

of the conditioned 

and controlled...