One, incapable or unwilling
to think critically or creatively,
is forever the slave
to the Political, Religious and mundane.

If you blame somebody else, don't expect it to get any better.

How is a sober person to appreciate sobriety?

Everyone wants
to be a backseat driver
but no one wants
to buy the gas

Everyone wants
a revolution
but no one wants
to do the dishes

Everyone wants
the World to change
but no one wants
to change themselves

Everyone wants
to be answered
but no one wants
to answer

Everyone wants
instant gratification
but everyone needs
to exercise patience

One can turn One's eyes towards Darkness,
One can turn One's eyes towards Light,
but I've found that it's most healthy
setting an eye quite firmly on each
with One's mind focused right in between;
while living right now before it's too late.

It is one thing
to teach by example,
but it is entirely different
to take over and become
the self-proclaimed know-it-all
Head-*******-In-Charge
disallowing learning on the parts of your peers.

These two are a stone's toss apart.

"No child left behind,"
yeah, if we leave them all behind, no one in particular gets left behind;
"If you weren't so smart, you wouldn't be called a nerd,"
yeah, but..

Life
is a story of discovering which beasts One has within them
and the struggle to tame and ride those beasts
without being eaten or trampled by them.

Civil Rights
apply to more than just
***, 'race,' religion, sexuality, nationality, ethnology and politics.

I propose that 'Civil Rights' encompass any preference or circumstance, such as:
clothing, age, vocation, language, art, food, drugs, beverage, hobbies, friends, humour, emotions, happiness, needs, etc.

Bigotry is bigotry
no matter how popular
or how (in)justified.

285 followers?
I know I get over 60+ unread poems every few hours
(which ***** when you have a life at all)
either posted or reposted
by poets and/or their collections,
and I know less than 285 poets on this site
that regularly go out of they way
to type some words (even if pseudo-anonymously)
to me to let me know they enjoyed a piece,
rather than just clicking a button and giving me a gold star.
Pavlov's dogs would find this somewhat familiar.

To me, anyway, one worthwhile comment is much more gratifying than are one hundred likes.

My most "popular" piece on here
has over two and half thousand views
with only eleven likes
and with three people not counting me
in the comments field.

So,
I wonder
just how worth it is to favorite something
in this spamstorm;
though, I know,
I, too, can spam.

I suppose the most important thing
is to actively seek what you enjoy;
the poets, the books, the people,
the art

art.

I hold that word, art,
which, to some, means:
'an absence of apparent purpose'
and, to others:
'an opportunity to ascribe purpose.'

Which are you?
A nihilist or a romantic?
A bit of both?

So am I.

I don't know
what this turned out to be,
but, I suppose that it's much like life
even if it's just a poor analogy:
for I ran with it
and allowed it to form
and thus, in a sense,
gave birth to this work
which as, unto itself, taken Life.

I suppose the moral here is to hold dear what you see fit.
I suppose the moral here is to yield, yet to aim.
I suppose the moral here is to trust in One's self.
I suppose the moral here is to persevere.
I suppose the moral here is to not rely on Technology,
but rather to suppose that it is some sort of tool
which we created to fit a purpose
which we have since forgotten and taken for granted:

any Tool
used as a Crutch will fail;
except for Crutches.
They work well for that.

Have I lost you yet?

Good.

Perhaps now you can find yourself.

I'll be waiting there.

"If we could apply ourselves half as much to progress
as we apply to working around obstacles we construct,
we wouldn't need to worry about resources;
for we are biological and thus infinite,
should we prove worthy
in a sustainable environment.

WHY IS THAT SO HARD?"






After a moment or two, the stars inaudibly echoed that "that's what the Gods call: 'being Human.' If only you knew how it aches to be!"

That in itself just blew my ******' mind.

When encountering someone who selfishly insists on having the final word:
simply boycott their ******* by not dignifying them with a response,
and maybe they'll be too anxious in their own Mind,
and maybe they'll realize that what they said
really had no ******* place
being the last words,

and by then, it'll be too late.

A lesson in and of itself.

Wir sind Beiprodukten unserer Umwelt;

wenn man ein bisschen Änderung will,
so oft muss die Umwelt geändert werden.

-

We are byproducts of our Environment;

when One wants a bit of change,
so often must the Environment be changed.

They, who seek
to drag you down
are, themselves,
already below you.

So foolish of me to assume
you may play a good game
when you can't even talk one.

Why is there such little media coverage of Bernie Sanders?
It's almost like Big Brother is afraid...

One cannot change what One refuses to confront.

For One to be Open,
all One must do
is not be Closed.

Aye; indeed t'is the rub
that such is so much easier said
than t'is done.

Yea, tho that be true;
t'is but the knowledge thereof, itself,
that arms the worthy Ones with the potential
to be Aware,
and thus
to overcome.

T'is not a matter of innate ability:
t'is rather a matter of choice;
of practice;
of attention:
of Openness.

Seek that you may become Open
(not that you aren't,
but I know I  so often forget
and thus I assume
that others must as well!)
by attempting to train yourself
not to be Closed;
try to remember
to not be Closed.

It only shrinks your world.
Trust me: I've been there.

I sometimes forget to leave.


Moral of the story:
Seek to be an Open Person
rather than a Closed one.
I don't mean extroverted or introverted,
I don't mean monogamous or polyamorous,
I don't mean liberal or conservative,
I don't mean religious of atheist,
I don't mean anything like that;
It's much deeper:
more fundamental to your Self:

*Do not close yourself off.
That is damnation.

Remain in pursuit of Openness.
It is the best path to Awakening.

One who is unwilling to help Oneself cannot be helped.

Thinking about you makes me want to listen to Marilyn Manson and scream along;
I wouldn't venture to say that's a compliment, either.

for it is the lesser of the two evils.

Never allow anyone
to bring you to feel
as if your passions
are irrelevant;

they,
who would seek
to make you feel
as if you don't deserve
what it is that you want most;

they are
thy enemies:
hostile to
thy life's work
hostile to
thy very dreams.

One
must move
beyond such atrophy,
painful though it may well be,

so it sure seems to me.

A fourth-rate Mind
wants to be the big fish in a little pond
without realizing there's a bigger pond.

A third-rate Mind
is the big fish in a little pond
keeping other fish from leaving the little pond.

A second-rate Mind
wants to be in the big pond
but has too much self-doubt to try.

A first-rate Mind
realizes it doesn't really matter which pond it's in
and tries to grow regardless.

Be not discouraged by discomfort:
endure some now if it precludes any later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academi

Next time you're waiting
in a long, slow-moving line,
moo like a cow or bleet like a sheep
and see who is humoured
and see who is offended.

Blood
is evermore thicker than is Ink:
take great heed of what you say,
but heed yet more what you think.

"Dank-***, homemade breakfast burritos for dinner
with coffee on the way?
This is ******* Heaven."

One
who identifies too strongly with Words and Names
falls victim to the paradoxical quicksand
we know as Language.

Bound forever by a Name of a concept,
One suffers the ******* of Language.

Boredom is an artificial a circumstance.

This isn't so much a literary write
as a reflection
upon a ****** up reality
of our society:

I found a website
that lets employees rate their employers,
and so, naturally, I decided to look up Wal Mart,
just for fun.

You can read all the good things
about opportunity and comfort
but none of the bad things
about corruption, unethical treatment,
or treatment of workers as disposable
unless you're signed in to Facebook:

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Walmart-Stores-Company-Reviews-E715_P11.htm?sort.sortType=OR&sort.ascending;=true


I think that's kind of funny,
in a weird, omnipresent
big-brother kind of way.

Stop.
Just for a moment.
Slow down.

Breathe.
Just breathe.


Draw in your breath over three seconds
hold it for a few more seconds
then slowly release it over three more seconds.

Peace.
Harmony.
Life.

Breathe.
It is the bassline to the drumbeat of your heart;
They keep your body dancing and marching in time
to the pulse and rhythm of your life.

In with the calm, out with the chaos.
In with health, out with disease.
In with respect, out with disdain.
In with love, out with spite.
In with Chi, out with Sha.

Breathe.
Serenity is there
if only we stop
to enjoy it.