In A Great Country

Is your country the best?
What does that even mean?
People should be free to do what they want,
While keeping the Earth clean,

While not infringing on others’ rights,
Or expecting too much,
Though not having to work all day and night,
Just to have a half hour off to eat lunch.

P’haps if robots did ev’rything for us,
Paid by the government,
So we could all ben’fit from society,
Not just the one percent,

Yeah, maybe then,
You’d call a country great,
Which assumes the citizens are great, too,
Sometimes people’s desires are hard to sate.

Things Change

Know when you know something,
Like it’s reality?
Ev’rything you do presupposes it,
Coloring all you see,

It’s a piece in the structure that makes you,
A solid amidst gas,
‘less you prescribe to my friend David Hume,
Who said we’re a bundled perception mass,

Then something pulls the rug from under you,
A truth of yours debunked,
You must reevaluate history,
Plus deal with present junk,

Then you might think,
‘What good is truth, at all?’
Rather, you must know each of yours well ‘nough,
Should you lose any, that you do not fall.

Switching Sides

The sun will rise morrow,
Or at least, if it does,
If you're not already up through the night,
Your life's not what it was,

You've had adventures in dreams you mayn't know,
Your body's been reset,
Ev'ryone around you's thought 'bout themselves,
Re'valuated their assets and debt,

Do not try too hard to adjust either,
They are out of your hands,
Focus on what brings peace to mind and heart,
Causing your soul to dance,

The rest will come,
Or it may never be,
There are two lives that you live in this life,
Don't let what is be marred by what may be.

Programming LIfe

Computers teach us things,
Beyond fast computing,
They have a brain that you can partition,
Which really might suit me,

To put a wall twixt work and other things,
To focus on the first,
Let not life's fears or the heart's obstacles,
Conjure a mind's fog that you must traverse,

Take a deep breath and visualize it,
Program away the hurt,
There is no need to deal with who you are,
Can't spare the gigahertz,

Or p'haps you can,
The brain is powerful,
Could be, while you're creating that spreadsheet,
You, too, can solve the problems of your world,

Three Parts

Try to make your mind blank,
Or maybe it's not hard,
One or the other, you have to decide,
The desires of your heart,

But you must also listen to that heart,
What is it telling you?
If you follow it, it won't steer you wrong,
Letting your soul do what it needs to do,

Putting out ethereal vibrations,
Searching for spir't'al life,
Until you balance all three of these parts,
You'll always be in strife,

No matter what,
Don't blame your circumstance,
Live dogs are better off than dead lions,
You can't feel sad if you get up and dance.

Work With What You've Got

Think 'bout what you're thinking,
What you think makes you say,
What what it makes you says, says about you,
Until your dying days,

Think 'bout it, what you think comes from your brain,
At least that's what we think,
No matter, your physicality has,
Constant continuous genetic links,

Meaning the paths your thoughts will e'er traverse,
Will e'er remain the same,
Think about this or that, you can be sure,
You'll be of the same brain,

That's who you are,
You best get used to it,
Fighting it is like not starting the race,
'cause you don't like how your running shorts fit.

When I'm Rich Enough

Oops, I did it again,
I guess I'll never stop,
I'll get so good I'll go professional,
Then open my own shop,

Invent a doodad to do it better,
Imprint my name on it,
Mass produce and ship it from overseas,
Hope the sweatshops install suicide nets,

Mark them up over one thousand percent,
Sell them for five bucks each,
Still not 'nough of the market to feel bad,
Less a king, more a leach,

Buy my own house,
Don't I deserve one, too?
The system paying me's already there,
When I'm rich 'nough I'll figure what to do.

Time To Uproot

Things are never easy,
If you're doing them right,
Though doing things wrong can be hard as well,
So you must have insight,

You might have unlimited energy,
But certainly not time,
Stop and breathe, assess what you are doing,
Focus on the things that will make you sublime,

It's not selfish if you are kind and fair,
Others should strive for it,
Delusion yourself and p'haps it will spread,
There's no need to force it,

Follow your heart,
It cannot lie to you,
It might overturn the life you have built,
But, it's not living if it's not your view.

Happy Solstice

Say what you will 'bout change,
You can't deny it's there,
It's part of what it means to be alive,
From chilling to warm air,

You may think you have been the same person,
From birth to you today,
You have, but for all you have seen and done,
Which is ev'rything of which you are made,

That's why it's a mistake to let time pass,
Without acknowl'dging it,
Everyday can be your own solstice,
Of renewed improvement,

Just like the Earth,
From which we all are born,
Change is the only mark of time's passing,
Between that is what makes you so forlorn.

No Matter What

You will get used to it,
No matter what it be,
Thrust amongst aliens in a forest,
Evading the police,

Down and out with no money to your name,
Pretending like you’re rich,
Living ‘mong those who’d not think ‘fyou before,
Even put in a box you’d find your niche,

That’s what it means to be a living thing,
Adaptability,
Your feet would grow roots if you needed to,
Commune with earth fungi,

Then there’re humans,
Changing environments,
Disrupting the world like Mother Earth,
Even those who think they’re not important.<\blockquote>

There’s Always Hope

Can you will good fortune?
Well, only time will tell,
Even then you can’t really know for sure,
If all will turn to hell,

As one said with whom I do not agree,
That will be known as Cusk,
One must live in abs’lute pessimism,
That is the safest route open to us,

So we’re not living in self-delusion,
What does that really mean?
It presupposes the world is one way,
Opposite to what we think we’re seeing.

But reject that,
Own the world you live in,
It may be the only one you e’er have,
So why worry that it’s an illusion?

Since You Asked

Y’ask me how I’m doing,
The smile will tell it all,
It is not sad with a sardonic twinge,
Foretelling of my fall,

The pupils are not wider than should be,
From drugs or nervous shock,
You’ll see my skin is smooth with a slight sheen,
From my mental health but also sunblock,

You will not be assailed with tales of woe,
But hope for the future,
I’ll ask you how you are genuinely,
I’m healthy good and pure,

Because of you,
For you helped me to see,
We’re all responsible for who we are,
No matter the views of society.

Flush

I do not want to wait,
For this life to be o’er,
If this sounds familiar, chances are,
I don’t need to say more,

You’ve already faced the fears we all do,
When you look ‘round and say,
Society was to take care of me,
So I could then be free to seize the day,

But you misunderstood what it is for,
It cares only for it,
Like many of us, it will ignore pain,
Before it ever quits,

Give up on it,
Look to those around you,
Ignore the shell in which we all exist,
Despite it all, do what you need to do.

Redemption

It’s a glorious day,
So shortly aft the rain,
The breeze reminds me that each day is new,
No matter former pain,

No matter what others may think of you,
Yes, you know who I mean,
Try to fathom the moves of all the leaves,
You’ll soon understand all you’ve never been,

Or what you have yet to make of yourself,
It is never too late,
E’en those on death row can let go their sins,
When they ponder their fate,

Then let it go,
Your life’s not what you’ve done,
It’s what you’ve learned try’ng to figure it out,
Just like ev’ry other goddamn human.

Outside In

She really did like him,
More than just a project,
Though saving him from the life he was in,
Was the starting object,

You may say she confused love for the work,
With her feelings for him,
That it is just an infatuation,
With saving men from incarceration,

But she is aware of wht she’s doing,
Do not deny her heart,
Those twenty years were the best she e’er had,
‘cept for the marriage part,

That was not good,
Her daughter could e’en see,
Comfort should only be your life’s choice,
If that’s always what you were meant to be.

Maybe Then

It's too late for someone,
To jump in your body,
Make all just the right moves to accomplish,
Everything you dreamed,

Use the powers you have naturally,
You failed to maximize,
E'en if it was a possibility,
No one but you now can see through your eyes,

Maybe it is not too late to succeed,
Unless you've given up,
Think about George Burns in Eighteen Again,
Then ask yourself wassup?

Then take a breath,
Then forget all you know,
Then step forward with the strength to reveal,
What no one else in all history can show.

Don't Change

Can you be consistent,
Through the good times and bad,
No matter the fortunes, trials, judgements,
Unreas'nable demands,

The changes of heart (for that's just a thing,
In a world made of things),
Respecting the changes all around you,
As things locate their best positioning,

Amidst the doubts that plague each one of us,
(How do we live at all?)
In the face of the pain you inflicted,
For not changing at all?

You have no choice,
Forget 'bout who you are,
Focus on what makes up those around you,
Otherwise you will never get that far.

Ode to Vine Park

With the breeze blowing soft,
Smatterings of dog poo,
Grass green among the many dirt patches,
The joy strong, but not new,

Walking towards you, your back's all I see,
Feet dangling o'er rubber,
At these times I'm more than my bank account,
Or the rent and bills I cannot cover,

For here is the place of filming cartwheels,
Play rock, scissors, paper,
Saying funny words during under dogs,
Counting the freight train's cars,

There is just us,
No life's anxieties,
These moments are brief 'mongst the outside world,
Would we could all just e'er hide behind trees.

Because I Love

Down the rabbit hole,
Fast as a subway train,
Tears are held because people can see,
Though they don’t know your name,

What right do you have  even to complain?
There were no guarantees,
Naked you’re born and you might be again,
Once again you will get up from your knees,

Unless you wish to deny all you know,
Which is not very much,
But of such import you’d claw your way up,
Just to know that you could touch,

The ones you love,
So they know you’re alive,
Only because you want the best for them,
Though what you did for yourself’s not enough.

What Carlin Said

Let the wind blow me 'way,
Upon a gentle wave,
Cradle me for five hundred thousand years,
So'sto see what's been saved,

Will't be humanity's propensity,
For mass self-destruction,
Preoccupation with getting its due,
Regardless of any repercussion?

Or will we somehow rise above ourselves?
That seems unnatural,
Twixt God and desire for the biggest truck,
We'll ever be feral,

The problem is,
Even as I write this,
I soar above looking for my own chance,
To obtain my own material bliss.

The Point of the Argument

We all make assumptions,
It's life's requirement,
You'd never take a step acknowledging,
You could step in a pit,

Even though it's not in front of you now,
It could always appear,
With no contradicting of innate laws,
That is the real world we live in, my dear,

That is why there is so, so much conflict,
For whatever we need,
We can create pits within arguments,
To satisfy our greed,

So, please beware,
Of all that you assume,
Not to petrify your every step,
To know the evilness you must exhume.

Paper Cutter

Despair can trump feeling,
The physical pain kind,
'magine losing ev'rything you worked for,
Why'nt also lose your mind?

Neglect the things that were precious to you,
They're from another life,
Not that you have chosen another one,
You've forgotten how to life in your strife,

Not e'en bloody gouges call you back,
Your body will decay,
Those in this world will find you and declare,
How'd she end up this way?

She'd not let go,
To false reality,
It sucked her out of common expeeryence,
Forgetting how t'operate a door key.

Lost Your Way

Crawling through a tunnel,
Belly down on gravel,
Lost your way, trying to find the right path,
Out of a living hell,

Okay, maybe it is not all that bad,
Until you look ahead,
To get where you need to go there's danger,
Behind you's now lurking the walking dead,

May that you find the courage to break through,
Then, you'll be safe again,
Not stuck in this purgatory of fear,
Fed by isolation,

Confusion, too,
How did you end up here?
Not until you get to the other side,
Will your destiny truly become clear.