The longer I live and from atop the privileged pedestal
Life has fortuitously handed me
I realize just how easily it is
To use such exquisite balconies of wealth and opportunity
To rob the ones below you under the guise of necessary evils

Corruption takes the form of whatever benefits the bearer
A slurry of desires and wants, that taste like needs
But only for a bitter taste to be left in the end
An elixir of lies, mixed with truth,
Designed to acquire more, through meticulous maneuvering

All the while, those fed such a potion
Taste the notes they desire, the notes they need
And such fears to lose those tastes
Were calculated to spurn just that,
Fabricated addiction.

Evil no longer wears the face of armies and war
Corruption no longer is a fat man in a small suit
With money bags surrounding his dinner table.
No.
Humanity's greatest enemies no longer openly walk the streets
But rather fester in the privacies our minds

We all have a single moment
In the infinity of time
To let our light shine across the stars

A lifetime is but a moment
Years are to time
As grains of sand are to a desert vast

But in our fleeting seconds of existence
We shine brightly to show the world
Who we are

And yes, of course we are afraid
But we are eager
To frame our seconds, our days, our years

As beautifully as we can.

It takes a lifetime
To build the house you call yourself
Years of toiling through the times
To grow from the roots of an infant seed

And it takes only a second
To throw it away
No matter how long you sat growing it all
It takes only a second
For it all to be taken away

There comes a moment, in ones efforts
To finally accept the reality in which they find themselves
Some run from it
Others ignore it

But all eventually open their eyes
Voluntarily or not
To see the setting in which they reside
Such volume sometimes breaks a person

But do not get caught in the traps of comparison
Jealousy breaks a person's journey
It can destroy your courage and steal your bravery
Deceiving you to believe that your efforts are...small

So now is the time.
The time to shed that brutish nature
Convincing yourself to be a smaller person
Find that voice that talks ill of your efforts
Who belittles your interests and laughs at your work

Call that voice out. Argue with it.
For it is that inner whisper that slowly eats away at you
And leaves an empty husk of what always could have been.
It is time to put that voice in its place.

And to know that you are stronger beyond measure
Stronger than any person even your own mind could conjure.

In our feeble existence as a waning empire
We have achieved more destruction
Than any life or prosperity we have created.

I care not for a nation, who stands for hope
To the suffering masses
When in fact, that very nation is the author of their pain
And a benefactor of their sufferings.

The days of national pride are myth and they always were
For pride in a country founded on the killing of others
Pride in a nation built by nameless souls, shackled into slavery?
Merely bygones of an age where cruelty was commonplace
As we now live a facade of a lie our grandfathers told

And I hear you
Why bite the hand that feeds you?
Why speak at all when you benefit from the very thing you detest?
Alas, here we are.

Two fools who both benefit from the death of others
Squabbling amongst ourselves, when we all have been deceived
Deceived to argue
To disagree

Because what better way to keep the channels running?
What better way to clog your thoughts and turn your heart?
Then to begin the age old battle between "Us v. Them"
But yet, we always fall for the same ploy

I no longer recognize this place anymore
And I feel hopeless to change it.

Anxiety is a cancer of the mind
One which manifests in kind
That begins as a seed within your head
A thistle **** while in your bed

Vines of doubt with acrid musk
Constricting around your hollowed husk
As it eats away from within
No longer knowing how long it's been

Like fungus that grows in the bleak
Fed by dank and dark lit rooms
Sapping victims till they're weak
Thorns that bind in anxious blooms

But as any learned gardener knows
Who has walked through fields of life
He who lets weeds overgrow
Shall surely be with strife

So prune and shape those chilling leaves
And let your garden breath again
But accept that life shall always have its weeds

But you're a gardener now, not who you were back then.

Fools rush in, where angels dare not tread
Physically or in your head

Be tempted not by easy gain
Do not get drunk on other's pain

Know when to turn your other cheek
Or when to act for the weak

Be justly brave when all alone
On the street or on your throne

Do not kick a man when he falls
Nor let arrogance build you paper walls

Detest pride when you can
Humility is what makes a man

Know that power is not a tool
To be wielded like a fool

Always admit when you are wrong
Allow truth to be your song

Enjoy the moment as you walk
And listen close when someone talks

Embrace those you love as if it were the last time you can
Some wish they could do it over again

Live not in fear of regret
Or else cage yourself in your fret

Speak kindly of those who are not there
Don't lower yourself like those who do not care

Mean what you say and what you do
No one trusts a two faced shrew

But in the end, it's just your choice
How you listen or use your voice

When you hug or punch or kneel
How you think and how you feel

Be free in your own thinking
Be liquid with your thought
Strive for growth and never shrinking
Don't force yourself to be what you are not.