For Rich Or Poor

Your worth's tied to your wealth,
The first thing people see,
If you look poor or you look filthy rich,
You may as well as be,

It gives you freedom, it makes you happy,
If someone says it don't,
They're either very poor or filthy rich,
One can't be happy, the other one won't,

Money is how everything is valued,
From food to affection,
If you disagree, have a dinner date,
At the Olive Garden.

You can do it,
But only with someone,
That can appreciate your reasoning,
Who is the same economic station.

Grey Matter

Shouldn't it all be grey,
No matter the topic?
Seeing things so close you lose the big scene,
Could be called myopic.

You see a small collection of data,
You find the truth in it,
Defend that truth against all other facts,
As if there's no other need for input,

But take a step back to see more details,
My god, lo and behold,
That truth you brandish makes up a pattern,
A new story's been told,

Of unity,
Of truth in perspective,
It is not the facts that are true or right,
But the fact they are interconnective.

Pets

I see, now I get it,
This obsession with pets,
'til now I've limited my thoughts on it,
To the trouble you get,

I have compared the early morning walks,
Picking up their feces,
With the momentary joy of petting,
Other people's dogs at the park, one sees,

That's like comparing the joy of one's child,
With a cute insta pic,
The obsession with pets is connection,
What makes strong hearts tick,

Without the guff,
Of teenage rebellion,
We humans survive on relationships,
Pets fulfill a need of our emotions.

Don't Care

Sometimes you just can't care,
Like, you could, but then why?
There's too much int'rest by too many folks,
Obsessed with their own lives,

It's like having to swat away fly clouds,
That stay aimed at your head,
There's so much you want to do for yourself,
But you curl up on the hard ground, instead,

You wait, thinking the insects will leave you,
While your life wastes away,
Sometimes you get up, try swatting again,
God, you can't live that way,

But you have to,
No one's going to change,
You could join them and torture other souls,
At least, then, it's not you that is enraged.

Relative Poverty

Can someone please tell me,
The secret to it all?
Not to sound like an old, broken record,
But I've again been stalled,

Stalled by the world's unchanging ruthlessness,
Is that hyperbolic?
I just want someone to give me money,
Without needing to do something for it,

I know, I'm far better off than many,
But, far worse than others,
Relativity's no theory these days,
For the ones who govern,

They must watch out,
If even I'm upset,
Just give me a house to live by the beach,
Leave out the debilitating debt.

None

Let me take five minutes,
Of total thoughtless time,
Mind completely disengaged from it all,
Nothing around is mine,

Not the cat pouncing on flying insects,
Nor the keys 'neath my hands,
The helicopter hovering nearby,
Or the birds singing as much as they can,

Air conditioners humming round the bend,
The dark bruise on my arm,
It's hard to focus on only one thing,
Without doing me harm,

Before time's up,
Lest I need start again,
To give my mind the rest it does deserve,
From its usual harmful distractions.

Power and Fear

You can expect something,
That something can happen,
Depending on what it is, you may fee,
Extreme jubilation,

For it's not everyday you get it right,
If you think about it,
For the number of times we get it wrong,
It's odd that more of us simply don't quit,

That's why so many people cling to rules,
Just for some peace of mind,
Others like to make them, and keep them there,
By not being quite kind,

Through oppression,
Is power about fear,
Of the unpredicability of,
Life by the ones who hold their freedom most dear?

Unfettered

You want to free yourself,
Without someone seeing,
You live you're life as if you are content,
With your state of being,

But when you think nobody is looking,
You struggle 'gainst your binds,
Pulling and stretching despite any pain,
To leave the feeling tameness behind,

To do what you do, but do as yourself,
All danger and risk yours,
Others see you as somebody else's,
That's what the anger's for,

Despite the love,
You ultimately feel,
For those protecting you for your own good,
Not knowing how hard it's for you to kneel.

Cliques

Cliques are not exclusive,
To particular folks,
Only the words they speak and clothes they wear,
Their behavior and hopes,

Anyone can present themselves to join,
Just like an interview,
Say the right things in just the correct way,
You crack the code and they will accept you,

But like the psychopath who lives with use,
It is all just an act,
No one can know anyone so deeply,
To truly ever hack,

What they're thinking,
At least very few can,
If that was a common ability,
Cliques would never have been an invention.

Interaction

I want to know you more,
Get past your skin and bones,
Interact with the deepest parts of you,
You wish were left along,

Sitting, festering, in deep dark corners,
I have those places, too,
Let's interact 'til our innards entwine,
The dust brushed off and the light shining through,

Then others can see those places, as well,
Learn they won't burn away,
Feel the joy of letting them loose outside,
Where only love can play,

I wan't to live,
More than just stay alive,
Find proof what I feel's not in solitude,
Show my darkness there is no place to hide.

For What?

What's to happen to you,
Once you see you're self-truth,
All the reasons you have tried and you've failed,
Each time you cut your tooth,

When you looked back and couldn't understand,
You could have done it all,
The jobs, the loves, the risky adventures,
You thought were not worth the potential fall,

When you, instead, opted for the next time,
That vague chance built on hope,
Dangling from a ledge, telling rescuers,
"I'll wait for closer ropes."?

Where are they now,
As fingers lose their grip?
You spent all that time, face against a wall,
Hope beyond hope your fingers wouldn't slip.

How You Choose

Living is not easy,
You're learning on the fly,
There is no manual embraced by all,
For some, many have died,

It starts ending the moment you are born,
No clue what's left in days,
You can treat it with complete nonchalance,
Say, it's best to burn out than fade away,

Or you could play it safe for your loved ones,
God pray that you have some,
P'haps you'll tackle it like a conquerer,
Amassing possessions,

Which way you go,
Needs be figured out, dear,
You don't have the time to deliberate,
Unless you choose you like to live in fear.

Look Around

Have you looked around you?
Like, really looked around,
Head up, mind quiet, eyes searching deeply,
For what's there to be found,

A chip on a brick, books on window sills,
A bird's nest on the ground,
Intricate descriptions in a poem,
Then close your eyes for touch, taste, feel and sound,

You will find a new world waiting for you,
Well, new is not the word,
A neglected landscape e'er always there, With secrets to be heard,

To change your life,
All you've left do is strive,
Turn off the autopilot that's your life,
Hands on wheel, foot on the pedal, now drive.

Keeping Real

Oh, how the times can change,
From one day to the next,
The optimism brandished on Friday,
By Monday can be nixed,

The harsh realities of what there is,
Versus the things you want,
Will never be reconciled together,
Unless you are happy with what you've got,

Which is no closer to your ideal life,
Than if you had billions,
Four steps are the same as a million miles,
To lives utopian,

But you can strive,
Like the best of us do,
Break out of a restricted existence,
Embrace the deep thinking innate in you.

What's Past

How do you fix the past,
The mistakes that you've made,
Mispoken words, unintended offence,
Social debts left unpaid?

It is true that time will stop for no one,
What is past, yes it passed,
But past events are part of a big tale,
Done with the final bowing of the cast,

Until then what's past cannot yet be judged,
What you've yet done applies,
In truth, it's actions that stop for no one,
The past always belies,

Which is its strength,
A strength you can embrace,
A wrong you have committed must still stand,
The test of the actions still to take place.

Free Them

Everyone's traveling,
Whether aware or not,
Being stuck in the same job all your life,
Is a round-the-world jaunt,

Sleeping with pictures of far of places,
Plastering your bedroom,
Sitting on a curb amidst violence,
In a village you won't be leaving soon,

Locked up for the crime of being born you,
Afraid to leave your home,
There is no human condition that's not,
A tale of one who roams,

Are minds are free,
Travel is in the mind,
Still, it makes it all the more saddening,
That such conditions inflict humankind.

What's Holding You Back?

You have a certain life,
You've been building so long,
Everything you see's your own creation,
Am I getting that wrong?

Do you instead wish for the day you're free,
To make it what you want?
What are the tethers keeping your hands tied,
So that what you want to do, you now can'?

Is it the past that has been etched in stone?
The weakness grown in you?
The details of the lives surrounding you,
That restrict what you can do?

Or is it you?
I don't know either way,
But laid out before you in this menu,
If you had to choose, which is it, you'd say?

Air Gapping

Sometimes connections hurt,
You've no control o'er them,
You can't predict actions or reactions,
Of another human,

When it's you, it's easy to repress things,
Not say what's on your mind,
Once something's out there, it can't be ignored,
You're either fighting or deemed unkind,

So, you can air gap and never connect,
Then you'll never be wrong,
Or take another tack, don't stop yourself,
From singing your heart's song,

You may be shocked,
By what you can acheive,
Putting your self out there for all to see,
While embracing songs from those who reprieve.

Grately

What am I grateful for?
Sometimes it's not easy,
Those moments it seems like there's no future,
Fill and eternity,

Breaking through malaise out into the light,
Requires letting go,
While also feeling you're being a chump,
'Cause you're being screwed more than you can know,

So, ask yourself, will you fight the system,
That makes you feel this way?
If not, then will you resent everything,
Sleep and wallow away?

Or will you stand,
Make the best of your lot?
TBH, none of these make me feel great,
Until I feel grateful for what I've got.

Physical Limits

We don't know everything, Yet lots we can predict,
Of how things behave when we interact,
Using mathematics,

Like if I hit billiard ball here,
Where it will find itself,
Or if a minute particle is here,
Does it help make up a human or bookshelf?

Still like our own lives, there are e'er limits,
To the knowledge there be,
We don't know what we know of those things,
We can't actually see,

Sure, we can guess,
Like, multi-universe,
Then say that we've just not figured it, yet,
But, there's always something still yet unearthed.

Zoom In then Out

How can you get deeper,
When you've not dug before?
Taking the facts then rearranging them,
As an eagle does soar,

Swooping down to rearrange them once more,
What do you hope to see?
Between experience and reasoning,
The hope's you'll find an unyet found meaning,

This will cause connections within your brain,
To increase and strengthen,
Awarding you greater powers of flight,
To do it all again,

Even better,
Then the sky's the limit,
To your new power to envision things,
As more than just the parts that compose it.

SangWenhua

I am not a sun si,
If you want to be free,
I'll let you go no matter how happy,
Your sulkiness makes me,

Aimlessness can certainly be a badge,
It's nothing new for teens,
Not sure it's different from being Goth,
Or maybe in the Seattle grunge scene,

Then you grow out of it and chances are,
The root of your ennui,
Is a desire to have a goal to reach,
In lived reality,

Just like Lelush!
He wanted off TV,
Which led to fame and hopefully money,
You don't get what you want, but what you need.

Rejuvination

You have lived a long time,
No matter what's your age,
The phenomenon of your consciousness,
Can't be measured by stage,

Living in the world with all your knowledge,
Even if it's one thing,
Plus the ability to take steps back,
And consider it amont everything,

Belies an eternity in your soul,
That cannot be altered,
That moment you've just had, you'll have again,
Despite the passing hours,

So, welcome back,
To the place you've ne'er been,
Where old and new are just designations,
What you see's always already been seen.