Blind Ambition

I see you child, rushing
And pushing and shoving
And climbing their ladler
Accomplishing nothing.
Never once stopping
To check your direction,
You simply push forward
With careless aggression.
Your collar is starched
And your tie perfect, straight,
Following plans that
Your puppeteers make.
And if ever a stray thought
Should enter your mind
You bow your head, chastised
Then fall back in line.
Are you happy with your hedge fund
And your mansion in the hills?
If you were really so happy, friend
You wouldn't need those pills.
Pills to make you sleep,
More pills to help you wake,
Pills to make you smile;
A new pill for every ache.
That is not a life, my son,
No matter what they've told you.
Leave the box they put you in
For you have let them mold you.
Slow your feet,
Widen your gaze,
Step off the path,
Leave the maze.
You might never make your millions
But you could make so much more
If you'd ever leave the rat race,
Look out, and explore.

It Was Just Right There

It's a switch
In a box
In a room
That's been locked
For so long
You forgot it exists.
It's a piece
Of the jigsaw
You lost in your youth
And if you but found it
You'd know the whole truth.
It's a mem'ry,
A dream
Once so real that it seems
Like you must have been
Right here before.
It's a smell you can't place
It's a feast you can't taste
It's the word on the tip of your tongue.
It's the name you forgot
To the face you did not
It's the water you wrang from the sponge.
It's a little bit funny
A little bit sad
Yours relieved when it's over
But not really glad
It's the smile you're fakin'
As your pictures get taken
So no one will realize you're sad.
It's a book
In a safe
In the vault
Of a bank
That burned down
On the wrong side of town.
It's just one more thing
Being brought in the ring
By a car full of rodeo clowns.
It's a day in the life
Of your enemy's wife
And you realize he's human as well.
It's a friendly reminder,
Commonality finder,
An epiphany kept to yourself.
The things which remind us
How actions define us
But the consequence won't involve hell.
It's the greed that consumes you
For things you don't need to
Live happ'ly
But sometimes they help.
So you switch off the box
In the room you keep locked
And you try to forget it exists.