Don't shake this hand
Caked in moisture
I'm sorry
I didn't want this either

Tough waters
Full of mystery
In the forbidden depths
Lies history

The more a problem is pointed out
A greater divide occurs
For the way to prevent injustice
Is action, not words

Silence
Created from a lack of noise
Reminding me
Of everything that speaks to me
Anywhere but here
Maybe midnight will give me the will
To scream
Not for me
For those I lost, stand in front of me
Please, oh please
In a better world, you would be here
I wonder how many said these same things?

Praying
For what we desire
Yet still
Satisfaction of a pill
Temporary means
To reach the ordinary
So scary
Unspoken and broken
Instead of begging for desire
Why can we not enjoy what transpires?
It takes no squire
To understand our burning liars
Deniers
Pass the shame like a mixtape
Track 17, side B:
The defense of excess
Featuring thoughts that never evanesce

I don't know how to hope
All I do is cope with jokes
One of a kind? Just a joke.
An ace of naught
Sanctimonious? I am not.
Pride builds foundations out of nations
Built to fall
Better to be undersold
Than to perceive yourself as a flush
While dreams get rushed
Into a joker's hand
The deck is laid out
While the house prepares to win, full house

When you meet for the last time
No one knows
It will be the final one

As I get older
World gets colder
All I can muster, crocodile tears
Numb to the cries
How can I harmonize when tragedy is normalized?

Bad people don't exist
For that implies a universal opinion
Good is good
Bad is bad
But what is truly "bad" can be seen as good
Is it good to be bad? Bad to be sad?
Good implies a hero, bad suggests a villain
But life isn't called fiction
It's called R-E-A-L-I-T-Y
Exclamatory! This ain't a story
Perpetuating whims that were made long ago
To be a "protagonist" is to be a pro at conflict
And when conflict equals death, wouldn't that be bad?
Or have we forgotten the cosmic vacuum?
Which renders it all futile?
Denial, the absence of sense leads to nonsense
So when freedom reigns, all we can do is speculate

In the back of my cognition
A memory appears:
Such a treasured time
Such bittersweetness
A choir of children sing a chorus
But I see none?
Only one, singing for no one
Yet...everyone?
No words, no phrases
Just noises
So simple, so pure
My vision grows blurry
I no longer have his eyes
Therefore, I cannot see him
But on a rare night
I hear his song
Only to weep, another night

In a world
Full of darkness
The light has abandoned us
It's up to ourselves
To make a new light
Artificial, but functional

What has been lost
Can be found
But on the journey to reclamation
Present sacrifices will be required for the past
Past or present?
Discretion or haste?
Which one brings joy to your face?

A paradox
Bound by a clock
I see humans
Who lack humanity
Dramatic irony, no sobriety
Asking to be accepted
With no self-respect
Begging for rights
When they have no more left
Blaming society for going under
Isn't it a wonder, how concepts are blamed for blunders
No rod to absorb the thunder
As the reason for existence gets torn asunder

The child--
Believes in extremes
The adolescent--
Changes on a whim
The adult--
Understands the truth
The senior--
Has neither time nor energy to change it

If only they communed
With one another

Ruination comes not from exterior forces
But interior quarrels

During pure paranoia
The most prominent features
Do not have to be visible

Alone
A cycle remains
Together
The cycle still remains
For it was orchestrated for years
By those
We have never known

Drinking beers
To avoid tears
For the fear of disgrace
Weighs heavy on the face
Embarrassment, for feelings and drinking
In this world
No one can feel
For judgment it brings

Just because I cannot
Doesn't mean I should not

Man, woman, child
No matter the deck, your cards are void
I am to blame, the child of the future you destroyed
Every day, I apologize
But no actions cure my infection
Long ago pandemic
Becomes endemic
My complacency
Crippled all of us
Those who spoke about justice
Refer to "just us"
How can I live in bliss?
Who can claim that?
Will today be the time
Of disgraces?
I see darkness in the light
On their faces
Today is another mode
Of applications
Today, if I died
The cycle would never end
World is a crackhouse
Distributed by the top
Even when the head falls
The struggle never stops.

Falling down
With no floor
To carry me
When will I come down?
And

M
a
k
e

i   m     p     a   c   t
------------------------

Black man
White man
Asian man
Hispanic man
Love to point out the race
While discarding the man

Looming over objects
Coming into view
It was once buried deep
And dies once referred to
But today, it was found
Unearthed near a shallow basin
What is it?
A secret.

How many layers
Divide instinct?
Fake problems
To avoid false promises
Drama kid, multiplied by a species
So easy
A measly disease
Now I know the reason
Feelings change like the season
May be a human
But with this act, I commit treason
Tired of the act, all I will drop is fact:
The life built for us resides not with us
Freedom is a concept
Divided by forceps
Tell me who you are
Then stop at the fourth step

Lights, so bright
A party, let's celebrate tonight
All the people I like are here
But still, there's something I fear
As people dance, sing, and drink
I can't help but look out the window
Glancing fast
Looking for reprieve
At the happiest time
Of the happiest night
I still feel no safe
As I look left to right
These feelings, so tense
It is hard to trust
When it all leads to a fight
So tired, so tired...
Maybe it's best to leave, to take flight

Always hungry
Never satisfied
That's what you get
When you build a world out of pride

Creatures of imitation
I call you now
We may be human
But we reject and disallow
Look at the trees, see the air in the leaves
Push and pull as one fulfills needs
So complex
Yet we forget the simple rules
Harmony
Ruined by the lead
Superiority
Born by the urge to creep
Power, not real
All it does
Brings us the zeal for the end

A comedian
Upon the stage
Prancing and dancing
Acting deranged
Yet once the audience departs
They sit alone
Hoping their fans heard the message
They were trying to impart

Always a brawler
Could have become a scholar
An impatient imp

Just because
We adapt to any environment
Never means
We are satisfied with it

I look into my own eyes
Question: Who am I?
Am I the sum of my space?
The finances I make?
Am I only a man in relation to others?
Can I stand on my own with no other?
How do I live with a life I smother?
So many choices, so many headaches
All these decisions for no one else to take
Good, bad, all just words
But, so is everything
So, then, what separates me, what do I bring?
Cannot be alive, gotta produce something
Because the proof is in the goods
Truly, it stings

Consulting a calender
Not for the date
But to see when the days will end

Idealism, the evolution of optimism
Idealists need to remain cautious
So their wings
Do not burn

I pray your day
Goes as planned
Planning is something
I never had much mind for…
Mind…
Oh yes! My dream
Walking patiently forward
Toward a blanket of twilight
All I could sense
Cold touch of faint wind
Over time I finally spoke
A garbled sentence
Greeted with an echo
First it was mine
Then a reverberation
Of voices I didn’t recognize
At least not yet
Touched my ears
Earmuffs?
I don’t own a pair…
I could hear?
Such an odd experience
The intensity increased
Till the force of the symphony
Pushed me backwards
Landed headfirst onto a rock
Rough and uninviting
Then I awoke
Unable to hear my breath
Like always
The status quo remains the same
Will it change?
Boy, I hope so
Truth is that…
I fear I’ll never know
Even if I said yes
Who will believe a man
With no way to hear it?

All these rights
Just to justify life
How are so many made
Yet few ever live
Quality over quantity extends to our kids
The pursuit of justice ends with just us
For in a world of progress
We forget where we come from

On this glorious day
Full of celebration
Elation plastered faces
What expression covers your face?
Knowing that our future will be a waste?
Fighting forever for freedom
Our own objectives
Overwhelmed by the offensive
So now speak with me, sultry sirens
Hey, is this the real world
Or the cost of fate by ingrates?
Parading around our pinnacle
Surviving by becoming criminals
Our ultimate punishment
For being born into a home
With no freedom to roam

Discussing philosophies
Brings out antiquities
So, when discussing those who believe
That their belief means nothing
Do not discuss their way
But how they came to it

No time for sympathy
Chasing ecstasy
Yet the trails we blaze
Leave generations in a haze
Maze with no sign, rewind
Turn back the clock before the hammer gets cocked
Blocked without a shot, here come the cops
Bang, click, vroom
Here comes the bloom
Trying to groom doom with a broom
All I consume brings the greatest of gloom
Consumed but no tomb, no womb
Womb-to-tomb, continuing slow
No energy left to further our growth
Foster the pace, laced with disgrace

Down the streets
Rain pours in sheets
Lights die with a screech
Now, here comes the street freaks
Observation, estimation
Surface level approximation
I stand on the side
Yet I walk the same street

After the downpour
Comes the sunshine
Hanging by the sunrise
To look at the sky
The rain shines bright
As it reflects the progression
Melancholy, now jolly
Found the code to life
Time to rewrite the program
Control what I can
Adapt when I can't
All this and more
Builds to a life, worthy of more

Paradise
Like succumbing to a spell
Touring heaven

Lakeside view
Frozen over by a layer of ice
A blanket of fog
Dancing with the air
It is cold, yet...
Is that a bad thing?

High altitude
Brought to a bigger status
Here comes the panic
Higher reputation brings a sobering mutation
Babbling turns to quotations, fame incarnate
Afraid of heights, embodied in metaphor
How can I rise with a fear of heights?
Making new flights to forget the time
A daily ritual, commonplace
Fusion of melancholy and lazy days
Afternoons turn to night
Nights turn to days
I can predict these things, they keep going
But the waves drag me under
Awake till moonlight, it's cold outside
Thinking "maybe this time", like the day before
Every day is disarray, how do I get away?

As numbers grow
Meaning becomes a focus
For every ten that are born
Twenty are met with scorn
When do concepts
Not apply to humans?
Is quantity not over quality?
To reach demands
Without reprimand
How can we matter
When numbers outweigh us
Have we, gone by
The time, to thrive?
When only 1% of the world matters
What about the 99%?

Father, go there
The troubles are over
Go up there, please
Show up, no more hiding
I'll wait for you
At the beach covered in minerals

Knocking at the exit...
Can't see it.
I gotta find my old opulence
Maybe, the exit was always here
But, my eyes
Chose to ignore it

Shimmering stars
In a twirling vortex
I see true beauty
Not the human beauty
Of adjustments, lifts, and edits
But natural, plentiful
I have seen true beauty
It was here all along.

Restless spirits
Emerge at night
Not looking to scare
But for a fight
Maybe one day
They will find peace
I do not find them scary
All I feel is pity
Specters dream of sleep
We sleep while alive
We are restless in death
No matter the stage
It seems to not go our way

Down below
Entrenched in a trench
Of barnacles, sea cucumbers
Denizens of moist seas
Lies a single figure
In the form of a statue
The symbol of a man, looking toward the sky
Hopeful expression, rusted by nature
An idealist at rock bottom, lying to himself, in wake

We've all got a job
Yet we always feel robbed
Satisfaction never stays until the end of days
One man can have the will of thousands
Only two hands to push the weight of the world
Needs no compass, creating an atlas
Life in their own hands, what divides them from a fascist?
Proverbial attacks for being an architect
How can one ant carry an apple?
How can one man conquer their criteria?
All dreams end, yet the meaning persists
Waking up, getting out
But for who? You? Them? Me?
The truth is often what we never want it to be
How can one cure division when the conversation is slipping?
Running out of solutions
So they answer with silence
...

Resident leaders
Citizen turned schemer
Lifting a finger
To guide others
Yet, let's list facts
Every resident
Becomes a percent
Numbers take precedent
Yet still in debt
Paid for on borrowed time
Labeled on a list of lies
Will it end with our demise?
Not quite sure
For it's where freedom lies