Surrounded by perfection
Glaring up, our phone in hand
‘Make your story sparklier!’
Implicit, cold command

Melting into bed or couch
How can we heed this plea?
Instead we spiral in disgust
Why must I be so me

Indoctrinated, even if
We attempt a weak resist
And from this dolled up fantasy
We wonder what we’ve missed

The ringmaster no different, then
A product of this age
And us the creatures in this zoo
Trapped in a spiral cage

You’re falling short Our ego cries
We shrink and strive for more
Convinced that clout and property
Define our very core

Tune out the tiny joyful thoughts
They’ll pause you for too long
You’ll miss tomorrow, final chance
To do more right than wrong

Now running on this hamster wheel
We weary, numb to play
But what if this is all a lie
They told me so I’d stay?

It makes (just barely) too much sense
Matrix no longer obfuscated
By sticking to their cruel, dull script
Worth tied to how we’re graded

But their rubric prizes mindless work
Profits from our very souls
Comfy enough to stay, struck dumb
Trading dreams for others’ goals

Hopelessness sets in again
But this time not from FOMO’s draw
And this, my friends, is hopeful
For before you never saw

With fresh clear eyes, now open
Seek ways to gunk their gears
For this the first step to escape
Illusion built on fears

Set down the “I’m not good enoughs”
Stop comparing you to them
Output is not your value
Seek for what you need within

Shame a tool in their kit
Weaponized to guarantee
Their greatest plot, derived from greed
Keeps us from being free

this rat race not a well laid plan
No “global plot” is underway
Just rich pursing richer
While we lose the skills to play

But if we could recapture just a glint
Of our authentic inner child
We’d find our hearts bursting with love
Grow beautiful and wild

We’d say ‘no!’ And be resolute
Slam doors when things weren’t fair
Spend more time with our chosen ones
And less on styling hair

We’d find thrill in all the simple joys
Curious questions would return
We’d find our lives were less default
And more like every burn

We’d smile cuz we’re happy
We’d meet those who felt the same
And perhaps we’d grow to love ourselves
Less compliant, much less tame

Those who stand to benefit from us
Crestfallen and worn down
Would see our free and loving hearts
And surely they would frown

Perhaps they’d think you strange or wrong
Called weird, just free and kind
And those dark frowns your proof then
That you’ve taken back your mind

And then, an even stranger shift
Your glow might move their heart
For your authentic energy
Spreads change, a subtle art

A smile to a sleeping soul
Not yet awake to see
Through play and joy and presence
More good comes when I am me

Of course, change takes its time to grow
seeds dormant in the ground
Awake, we now see all the traps
They’ve left laying around

So we dance around their crafted tricks
Still kind to them despite
For the best way to fight darkness?
Is to shine upon it your bright light

Expect them to protest and cry
You’re not doing as you should!
Drop judgement and ask, kindly now
Is it not right to spread more good?

I’ve stumbled on a secret
Ill share if you’d like to know;
Connecting with your grateful heart
Sparks joy and opens flow

I don’t mean to cause a problem
My intention not to alarm
But I promise you, my strangeness
Does not mean you any harm

I shine my light, well, everywhere
Don’t wear my old disguise
Of shame and fear and FOMO
And now happiness my prize

Thank you for your precious time
For hearing what I had to say
I’m glad that our paths got to cross
On this auspicious day

Your power is yours and yours alone
To make ripples of your choice
Perhaps not as large as you would hope
But still, you have a voice