In quietness, a handful finds its worth,
Than burdened hands, filled with toil and dearth.
The conflict within, the eternal fight,
Between who I am and who tempts me in sight.

Who wouldn't desire a higher living grace?
Yet, it brings torment to the human race.
Is this all there is? Where lies true meaning?
I gaze around, souls no longer gleaming.
Humans turned machines, always on the run,
Busy, hurried, with no time to feel the sun.

A solitary figure, no kin or brother,
Toiling endlessly, eye unsatisfied with riches' smother.
For whom does he labor, his soul bereaved?
An empty vanity, a travail deeply grieved.

Hedonistic pleasures, vanity in reign,
Significance lost, drowned in a material plane.
Money, the new measure of one's character,
A vast desert of souls lost, our society's grandeur.
Hope fades away, replaced by absurdity's plight,
Blindly following rules till death's eternal night.

The fallacies of our age, we cannot deny:
Standard of living, consumerism's cry,
Media's influence, shaping our desires,
The pursuit of a wrinkle-free life, beauty aspires,
And debts, chains that bind, our souls confined.

But if we stumble, there's a hand to uplift,
Woe to the lonely who fall, no one to gift
A helping hand, a friend in time of need,
Birds of a feather, together they succeed.

In a modern world, mono fidelity a test,
A lone runner tires, company brings zest.
While immersed in trends and empty chatter,
We fail to realize the weariness that shatters.
Yet, the greatest advice, a double-edged sword,
To be yourself amidst a world that tries to mold.
The greatest achievement, staying true and strong,
Amidst the constant pressure to belong.

I contemplate the living under the sun's glare,
The second child who follows, burden to bear.
Endless generations, yet no true rejoice,
Vanity and vexation, our eternal choice.

Have you ever noticed the shifting of words?
Greetings, what say you from yonder place?
Our words seem tainted, decaying, toxic to me.
Curiously, they still gleam and resonate on the surface,
Yet do you fathom their quandary?
"They lack all significance, meaning naught.
Witness it for yourself.

From a scientific stance,
Humans fashioned words to expand the realm of knowledge,
Now known as information, a shared bounty.
But behold the transformation...

As darkness fell, and men slumbered beneath shared stars,
War erupted, coercing us to buy dubious wares,
In exchange for a false promise of peace, Hughes deemed a friend,
To escape condemnation, death or prison, for dissenting views,
Once taboo in bygone days.

Generations passed, civilizations rose and crumbled,
Yet one truth remains amidst this eternal dance,
Forgotten is the words' power to inspire fear,
Instead, they become mute pages, hushing silence.

Do you remember consuming those ceaseless warnings?
How could I forget the myriad of prohibitions?
Reiterated by parents, society, teachers, priests,
Till their words turned meaningless babble,
Thankfully coated in apologies, "I'll never do it again,"
Though never intending to in the first place,
Yet they sowed seeds of sinister thoughts within my shadows.

We all proclaimed, "In five minutes," or "Tomorrow I'll start," or
"This time, I'll never be late for..."
Mere piles of reeking ******* they truly are.
How did we reach a juncture where words lost their essence?
Reducing the world to a brothel, a circus, bereft of meaning.

Alas, the mightiest declarations endure the test of time.
Honesty, Justice, and the Truth.
"That all may honor the Son as they do the Father.
He who disrespects the Son, disrespects the Father who sent him."
Ironically, such words have unsettled men for centuries,
Though once uttered with genuine intent.
And who rendered them void?
Politicians, lawyers, professionals, advertisers,
All who employ words as tools, and we with our posts and likes,
Craving more likes,
Fueling the fire with greater fervor,
More love, more laughter, more, more, more,
On the obnoxious host, like...

Do you grasp the meaning of "fast"?
Similar to "pray and fast,"
Fast!
To seal, confine, shut away, that is its core.
To observe weeks of silence, refraining from speech.
Sadly, our oral sphincter shall not comply,
Yet closure is within reach.

Do you truly seek to infuse your life with new purpose?
Fresh words?
Then embrace silence for seven, or better yet, twenty-one days,
Abstaining from discourse entirely,
Not even a whisper, eschewing
Social media, tranquil and attuned to self,
Embracing the vast expanse of emotions when the month remains unsoiled.
Only then shall wonders befall... and
Unlock the tapestry of thoughts and mysteries within your mind.

And I’ll risk my life for you therefore I am brave ”

Yes but a risk is way more than just that.

Risk is everywhere.

The risk of being let down,

The risk of giving more only to get nothing in return,

The risk of dreaming only to be disappointed,

The risk of crying only to look soft,

The risk of laughing only to look like a fool,

The risk of being yourself only to be judged,

The risk of commitment only to let your dreams out to another individual,

But do you know the greatest risk of all?

Is to risk nothing.

To my beloved young souls of this named generation,
Do you seek a voice to remind you of the true essence within us, away from the misconceptions and judgments?
We are not merely the "me-me" self-centered beings, painted as lazy narcissists.
Let us reject the labels of self-interest, self-absorption, and self-indulgence,
For we are capable of much more than self-inflating.
In the annals of human history, let us not be haunted by the false idol of "Self,"
Instead, let our actions be guided by compassion and empathy.
Though older voices warn of destruction and collapse, painting a barren landscape of temptation and immorality,
We, the Y's, Z's, and millennials, defy such narratives and strive for something greater,
Our destiny lies not in becoming mere ego bubbles, but in shaping a world of substance and purpose.
Bound by neither trends nor lustful pleasure, we seek a true and meaningful civilization.
The fabric of morality may appear to unravel, but its preservation is a price we cannot bear to lose.
Look beyond the surface allure of life's trinkets, for often the glitter obscures true value.
We have traded moments of existence for shallow approval, forsaking our inner selves.
Yet, even the grandest tombs turn to dust, reminding us that true worth lies in the legacy we leave.
Had we possessed the courage to champion righteousness, this letter would remain unwritten.
In life, only four certainties endure: progress, change, evolution, and uncertainty.
But let us not be like dogs returning to their ***** or fools drawn back to the flames.
A day will come when we must reckon with our mistakes and seek redemption.
Believe it or not, the choice lies within us.

An open letter to teachers
I love learning
You make think that’s odd considering the blank look I have on my face every lesson
But it’s true
However when you put me in a room of thirty other kids I don’t get along with
Or don’t like learning too
It kinda kills the mood
Whilst learning definitions is important and I understand
You’ll forgive me for looking out of the window for a few minutes before tuning back in
You’re just as bored as me I know
But of course you’ll never let it show
After all
Your class is the most important of them all
Thirty minutes of homework a night at least
I study 6 other subjects
Each of them requiring at least thirty minutes too
That’s three and a half hours of work a night
Plus eight hours of school
That’s a twelve hour work day
So you’ll forgive me for yawning in your class
Afterall I stayed up til 12am the night before doing the work you set me
No of course not
How dare I yawn in your lesson?
That’s right it is incredibly rude
It is my fault I stayed up so late the night before
Doing work that you set me
How dare I?
I apologise

I love learning
But I don’t like sitting in a room of 150 other kids doing an exam
Spending three nights before fitting into my head all that I could cram
So I could have you stand over me and watch me as I write
Or the giant dreaded clock counting down from 100 to 0
Each minute going faster as I struggle to calculate how many times 0 goes into 100
Asking a question that can’t be answered
“You won’t be able to ask questions in real life”
That’s odd because my work place embraces asking questions
On the bottom of every sheet saying ‘ask the manager if you don’t know how to do these jobs’
But that’s not the real world
Part time work is not the real world
Flipping burgers at Maccas is not the real world
But it seems pretty real to me

I love learning
When I was 8 loved to do maths
Triangles and squares and circles it all came naturally
Then you started implying that maths was a boy’s area
That only boys do well and boys can succeed
I lost that love
Took a left turn at maths and English lane
Whether that was the best or worst choice I’ve ever made I’m here now
A poet who can count to 100 in threes languages but can’t make sense of the letter x
What’s it doing there?
Isn’t maths just numbers?
Are English and maths crossing over?
No
X and represents everything and 1 all at once
Just like how the conch symbolises law and order?
No
It’s just a number
A number that needs to be worked out
Ten lines at least to work out x
A million different solutions and trial and error will not be one
It’s the cheat’s way out
The girl’s way out

I love learning
My maths teacher taught me to love maths again
My English teacher taught me English was not just a constellation
My drama teacher taught me drama is so much more than the stage
But maybe this is all too late
Because when I’ve spent my life waiting to fall in love with maths again
My love for maths was lost
My love for learning was lost
My drive is lost
I love learning
But not as much as I used to