Take The Time

You are not your father,
Your mother, you are not,
You’re not the expectations laid on you,
That should not be your lot,

You’re not the words that you spoke yesterday,
Conjure them if you are,
You’re not your reactions to tragedy,
Or your own children or even your car,

You’re not the guilt for any of these things,
Or product of the past,
Nor an expression of what’s yet to come,
The future doesn’t last,

You’re who you are,
Who’s reading this right now,
It’s not a question of learning that truth,
It’s a matter of figuring out how.

Our Fate

When will it get started,
This thing that we call life,
Preparing from the time that we are born,
For misfortune and strife,

By people who haven’t figured it out,
Not those who did raise them?
Some say the fate of humans is sorrow,
Forever seeking out success and friends,

Never satisfied with what we do get,
E’er comparing to Jones,
Judging self-worth by what others attain,
Ignoring the forlorn,

For they’re failures,
Too lazy to succeed,
Until we find ourselves in the same boat,
Then we find others to judge in more need.

Getting What You Want

You cannot move forward,
If you’re stuck in the past,
If you see no reason to change your ways,
Or if you are an ass,

If you’re so happy you’ve nowhere to go,
That wouldn’t bring you down,
Until perhaps the narcotics wear off,
Or the factory closes in your town,

If you have no faith in evolution,
That things can change at all,
Ev’ryone stuck with their own lot in life,
Whether they rise or fall.

But if you do,
Have hopes beyond the now,
That reality is waiting for you,
When you stop asking yourself if, but how.

Close Your Eyes

We can all close our eyes,
No matter where we are,
Fill ourselves with the silence of our minds,
Amidst the trains and cars,

The constant droning of our daily fears,
Served fresh on the news feeds,
Look left or right, the outcome is the same,
The grass on the other side e’er needs seeds,

The agendas of ev’ryone you meet,
Paranoia’s legit,
If you don’t know who you are in this world,
You’ll be a piece of shit,

No, keep them closed,
We are not quite done, yet,
Don’t stop until you’re completely alone,
You want to re-enter the world, I bet.

Good Fortune

It’s the Chinese New Year,
Don’t know much about it,
I had some dumplings which should bring money,
I’m sure that is legit,

The year of the pig is ‘bout fortune, too,
I’m doing all I can,
In the spring I’ll be chasing each rainbow,
I wish for bird shit to drop where I stand,

Nothing is off the table from now on,
I have nothing to lose,
Like mom said doing nothing’s not a choice,
I have no time to choose,

So bring it on,
Before I’m on the streets,
If riches aren’t in my horoscope,
I’m off to start collecting rabbit feet.

No Matter What

No matter what happens,
Compared to what you want,
Disappointment, dreams come true, accolades,
Or a hist’ry that haunts,

 Or what’s more likely, the whole trifecta,
With prob’lly more thrown in,
Life is long, no matter how it might feel,
Or even if it’s short in duration,

 What will always be under your control,
Is how you look at it,
Though depending on how you were brought up,
You may think me a git.

Maybe I am,
Rather, I am for you,
Plus anyone else who has been in pain,
Minus my mom, who was dying and knew.

Rebel

If you want to be pinged,
You can't hide in a hole,
Asking yourself why you are so alone,
Despite your pretty soul,

You're one of many who wants to connect,
But want to wait for it,
A billion catchers waiting at home plate,
With nary anyone ready to pitch,

Put yourself out there, to use a cliché,
Or simply speak the truth,
That you should have no fear of who you are,
Is known early in youth.

You're born with it,
So why do we forget?
A custom of punishing honesty,
When it's different from what your parents said.

Who You Are

It's not about effort,
Though you need that for sure,
Connections help, but those you'll never get,
Without intentions pure,

A leg up's something you should not sneeze at,
You can't make it without,
This world exists and you must live in it,
Which means acceptance is a must, no doubt,

Still, all these things mean nothing in the end,
With nothing to bind to,
A thing that knows exactly what it is,
Is rarer than the truth,

So, is that you?
Do you know what I mean?
Defining what you see by who you are,
Not self-defined according to what's seen.

When You Are Old

When you get much older,
Let us pray that you do,
The types of goals reserved for younger ones,
Far out of your purview,

The concrete of your youth set long ago,
In fact, begins to crack,
Views you’re embarrassed to bring back to mind,
Experiences you wish to get back,

How will you feel about this museum,
Will it be just for you?
Cluttered, petty, irrelevant to most,
Perspectives barely true,

Or will you bask,
In its grand uniqueness,
The embrace of a quest thrust upon you,
Shining your truth despite life’s pettiness.

Improvisation for Peace

Let's improvise our life,
No suggestions are wrong,
That don't deny anyone's existence,
That has gone on too long,

For to be tall or short, skinny or fat,
Or any other thing,
Is a product of the combination,
Of one's environment and of one's genes,

Neither of which are in anyone's scope,
To change circumstance,
You may as well fault the rose for blooming,
Or the drag queens who dance,

Maybe it's greed,
That promotes our conflict,
But to improvise is to be selfless,
So that one's own fate can never be picked.

The Truth Inside

I forgot you were there,
Looking down upon me,
Symbolizing my most devilish parts,
Though, subliminally,

Like everything you don’t want to face,
Just shred it and forget,
Then, when it regenerates and returns,
Push it back down and then never fret it,

For what are we if not made to deny,
What is in all of us?
We propose ideal worlds for which to strive,
That are not serious,

We all know it,
They are repression tools,
Both, to forget the devil inside us,
And to control us as ignorant fools.

Embrace Yourself

Find what most distracts you,
With joyousness and bliss,
Fill your time with that as much as you can,
And I promise you this,

Serendipity with then follow you,
But that’s just a symptom,
Of your embracing of the skin you’re in,
Born of pure chance, not any intention,

Time will fly and stop simultanyusly,
All space will by your world,
Your words will be pure, your actions graceful,
Your greatness will unfurl,

We all have it,
That jewel inside us,
The error that hides it behind closed eyes,
Is the belief that life’s mysterious.

The Precarious Journey

It's easy to get down,
Both micro and macro,
Life can be so hard just as it is,
With naught to bring you low,

Add the things you have no control over,
Your upbringing forsooth,
Economic woes, emotional pains,
All before you lose your last baby tooth,

Then simple accidents can change your life,
Before revolution,
Ocean levels rising midst hurricanes,
Who do we e'en function?

It's mostly luck,
But love's a must also,
The kind that proves that other hearts exist,
Even in those people you may not know.

The New You

You can have a death wish,
Or you can wish for life,
Neither existence is less than th'other,
For suffering or strife,

Both can be struck with a fatality,
Or selflessness extreme,
As far as consciousness goes, let 'er rip,
You are as unique as what's ever been,

You have flavor that's never been tasted,
Do not water it down,
Purify it by shedding what is false,
You may be shocked what's found,

Something not new,
But buried way deep down,
Masking your real scent unnaturally,
So that the true you may never be found.

The Grind

You work hard all your life,
No matter who you are,
For money, love, self-gratification,
Making yourself a star,

Getting revenge on those who have wronged you,
A disgusting calling,
Born of an unfortunate upbringing,
The selfishness required appalling,

P’haps you’re helping those with less in their life,
Feeling like Sisyphus,
Or chasing one dream after another,
Never victorious,

No matter what,
It is you choose to do,
Ever try to project to your deathbed,
To be certain it is okay with you.

Figure It Out

This is an intense time,
No pretending it’s not,
Best open flood gates bursting at the seams,
Than leave an unsaid thought,

To unleash emotions, why chain them down,
When they’re only tamed free?
To spare the feelings of those around you,
From what’s really your true identity?

Or is it? You know you can never know.
Some try and live that way,
Proportionally they’re no happier,
Than living for the day.

So who’s to know?
You, you clueless human,
Maybe you’d have figured it out by now,
If you went out every once and again.

Be Heard

The engine is revving,
You have to go somewhere,
Foot to the floor until you’re far away,
The speed is beyond dare,

You fill the space around you with your screams,
Like anyone would heed,
It’s so futile trying to make your mark,
You want to pull a Thelma and Louise,

Not that that would make any difference,
Who e’en remembers them?
The best you can do to define yourself,
Is laughing in the end.

Make sure they hear!
Don’t be on the lone road,
Make donuts in the parking lot all day,
Keeping the trunk popped so they see your load.

What You Are

Wake up in the morning,
Survey all that you have,
Which is nothing except what you perceive,
And then not even that,

Some people mistake possessions as theirs,
And things as possessions,
Confusing what they own as who they are,
Things, pets, kids, dreams, ideas, emotions,

But you are less than all these perceptions,
You’re imperceptible,
Yet, larger than any life you could think,
Impossible to fill.

Impossible.
Sit on that for a while,
Now put on your clothes and face a new day,
Trying to absorb this truth all the while.

What

The what is the answer,
What ev'rybody knows,
Forget finding out what you're meant to be,
For what it's worth, it blows,

What really matter's what's not talked about,
Until it's much too late,
When what you are is just waiting to die,
What what you've not done can be blamed on fate,

But what about what you are doing now?
There is too much at stake,
To ask what the what, what is a what to do,
To avoid the mistake,

What not to do,
What's the point of it all?
You're so preoccupied with hows and whys,
You mistook what it is, for what it's called.

The Question

Can you keep up with it?
The changing of the times,
The fickle perception of your colleagues,
They can turn on a dime,

World views and the opinions of your friends,
Like the weather they change,
All that much harder for you to detect,
As your own understandings rearrange,

While leaders change as fast as the weather,
The weather changes, too,
What is it in these endless rough waters
You have to hold onto?

Well, truthfully,
That's not the right question,
Do not ask how the world can support you,
But how you find your equilibrium.