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.

This Life

Oh, what you can get done,
Rid of some obsessions,
Freed of internet TV binge-watching,
Hugged by the couch cushions,

Supplemented by a bottle of wine,
Interrupted by chips,
Between scrolling through the updates and posts,
Of those you miss and those you’d like to hit,

After a day of hard correspondence,
Even while your driving,
A new system that leaves no room for you,
Just social surviving,

But all’s not lost,
The power’s within you,
Each moment offers a choice to succumb,
Or improve something that you like to do.

32 Chews

I did put the whole thing,
In my mouth in one go,
Not sure if that is any different,
Than biting nice and slow,

There are those who say the stomach suffers,
When mastication’s weak,
So I thoughtfully chew ‘til all I feel’s,
A warm, oatmeally sludge within my cheeks.

So what is there now to argue against?
Perception of excess,
When by the end I have eaten no more,
Than those who give bad press?

Just let it be,
There’s much more to fret ‘bout,
Just make sure what you have to say’s louder,
And that you don’t say it with a full mouth.

Emergency Call

I will come sing, tonight,
Despite what's best for you,
You will fulfill my desire to be seen,
More than a working schmoo,

More than a single dad, first I've said that,
Why not embrace the truth?
Which is diff'rent than simply not lying,
A maxim we have wasted on our youth,

More than a white male, may I point that out?
My genes have done a lot,
My guilt by association's legit,
Your innocence is not,

But let me play,
'fore you call 9-1-1,
Sometimes saying things melodiously,
Takes the attention from the musician.

Final Bid?

Put me up for auction,
Maybe an early lot,
Too early, I will feel unimportant,
No matter if I’m bought,

Last, of course misrepresents my value,
Stifling potential bids,
The greatest worth a person possesses,
Is that which others believe must be hid,

Find an auctioneer who fathoms the game,
Is not about the work,
If I had to rely on what I am,
What would bidders exert?

No offence meant,
Worth, here, is relative,
For them is satisfaction of the win,
For me is the satisfaction I give.

The Beat You Can Do

As I lie here waiting,
For the day to begin,
Time carries on despite my hesitance,
F’its continuation,

With humanity’s higher processes,
Why must we obey time?
Instead freezing experience we like,
Skipping the psychologically unkind,

Then I’d spend the resy of my existence,
In this bed here with you,
In this silence that expresses all that,
I’ve ever wished to do.

Though’s not to be,
Memory’s all we’ve got,
To refuse to let go of golden years,
‘Til our bodies give way to death and rot.

Build It

First you make the pieces,
Though you must plan 'fore that,
Sketch out precisely what it is you want,
Your measurements exact,

Follow the drawings with care and focus,
You only have one chance,
You want to do it right, be serious,
Want to have fun, well, just get up and dance,

Assemble them and watch the vision grow,
No wrong can be done here,
Your loved ones will see that there were reasons,
For which they need not fear,

For your goodness,
You just had things to do,
A life not lived is no real life at all,
Now your structure will support all of you.

I Want An Instant Camera

I want a Polaroid,
Something of importance,
That creates things in the physical world,
With real consequences,

To train my brain from an alternate view,
Value in the front end,
So that pulling a trigger means something,
For there’s a cost to doing a second,

Then when I look at what I’ve created,
My second chance ain’t lost,
I take what I learn for the next moment,
The last one I just toss,

No do-overs,
Isn’t that what’s at stake?
When you can’t be sure you’ve got what you want,
That picture will be much harder to take.

Getting There

There are things you work for,
Once on the horizon,
Then you stand among your accomplishments,
But they're an illusion,

The goal was not the goal, but the journey,
Not many truths in life,
You either work for things curse your luck,
Whether you live in comfort or in strife,

You cannot blame either approach, really,
It is nobody's fault,
It could be nature, it could be nurture,
Or sexual assault,

It could be god,
The trick's to see who y'are,
Strip away ev'rything that's not, just once,
To ensure that you do not stray too far.

Move On

You’re a diff’rent person,
Every time you wake,
Leave hair and skin embedded in your bed,
Radyation in your wake,

Each moment imprints completely unique,
Images on your eyes,
Filed away, contributing to your view,
Guiding your reactions to the outside,

Creating new traumas on your body,
Some terrible, some nice,
Don’t try to recapture who you once were,
That would be your demise,

You can’t go back,
You must be who you are,
The things you’ve done are a part of you, now,
Without it all you won’t get very far.

Three More Sleeps

Part of being ready,
Past the hours of study,
Mapping out all the things you have to do,
Preliminarily,

Repeating all the things you're not good at,
Until you feel you are,
Then repeating again 'til it becomes,
What people sometimes call second nature,

So that you actu'lly change who you are,
For the better, you guess,
E'en beyond this dedication of yours,
To top preparedness,

There is your fear,
That you must overcome,
Threatening to erase all your hard work,
If you lose faith in your evolution.

The Drink

You must acquire the taste,
No one’s born liking it,
The attraction is really its effects,
On fatigued temperaments,

It’s like it doesn’t travel down your throat,
But envelops your mind,
Opens your eyes and ears to the morning,
So that you can get through the daily grind,

All all these variations really prove.
Is it’s got to be masked,
Like a superhero saving the world,
Nothing told, nothing asked,

I mean coffee!
I’ve almost finished mine,
It marks the beginning of ev’ryday,
Its absence leaves you feeling you have died.

Back Pain

The pain came on sudden,
The origin unknown,
Looking for it took me away from it,
But from it you're not torn,

The trauma it's pointing to still exists,
Nestled in your mind's back,
Keep focusing on what is causing it,
To the detriment of the healing track,

The more you ignore the worse it will get,
The less you, you will be,
Until you find you're not living at all,
Mired in your tragedy,

But who'm I to say?
Some people thrive on pain,
Reaching great financial and social heights,
Off the backs of those who can't do the same.

No Odds

What's the point in trying?
Have I said that before?
Some people say never settle for less,
But always expect more.

Is that just a way to keep us all meek?
More questions than answers,
That we'll never get 'til the day we die,
Then only if we've got what we asked for,

Otherwise you can't prove a negative,
Maybe you died too young,
Or you had chances you didn't perceive,
Leaving your soul unsung,

Or th'opposite,<
This life makes no promise,
Ev'ryone might be Curie in their way,
With ninety percent of them being missed./blockquote>