Chutes and Ladders

"The cure for pain is in the pain." ~ Rumi

1-25-12

There is a bigger picture

We often think we got it all figured out

like we're looking at a board game

and can see the next logical natural

inevitable steps and conclusions

but then something happens

and we find out that the picture

is so much bigger than what we thought

At first we respond with fear

and maybe go through all the stages of loss

but if we can make it through all that

without holding onto too much of the darkness therein

we often find that the bigger picture

isn't so bad

It may even be just what we needed

to become the greatest version

of ourselves

Sincerely, The 1%

I wrote this a couple months back, and I wanted to post it right away, but I also wanted to write a straight piece of literature, no performance elements, and I failed. I couldn't keep em out. And once it all fell outta me onto the page (like THAT), I didn't wanna compromise or ruin the performance for anybody by posting it beforehand. So I didn't.

Well last night the chance finally came to perform it. And even though when I initially wrote it, I thought it was cool and could be great, by the time the time came to present the piece, I wasn't so sure. For a performance piece it is REALLY long, and if the satire fell flat on the audience then that would suck! Luckily, last night, that was not the case. It was honestly one of the best experiences I've had performing TO DATE! It was received far better than I expected. They laughed. They LAUGHED! I couldn't have been happier. So now I'll post it, lol. I'm not saying I'll never perform it again any time soon, I may very well, so you're welcome to hold off for that day and not read it so you get the full effect, but that is up to you now. Lemme know what you think. Cheers. :)

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Dear masses, do not express your massive discontent. Especially if you don’t have a plan for how to make you happy. Just because we’ve spent the last hundred years creating a system that is so convoluted, lopsided, and engrained into everyday life that you couldn’t possibly extract it without hemorrhaging the livelihood of our civilization, doesn’t mean you get to protest without knowing how to fix it. That would be silly. It’s like you think we’re suddenly gonna “get it” and pull the plug on ourselves. Please, be realistic.

We are self-servers. You are the servers. We do everything to serve ourselves and you serve pretty much whoever we tell you to. That’s how it’s always been. We know there was a dream in there somewhere of equality and ending poverty, along with some democracy (whatever that word means to you) but…c’mon, we don’t really care. And thanks to us, you don’t really care either. Until now. Now you finally put 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 together, and finally figured out that there’s….an awful lot of you who are suffering thru a life that many of us don’t struggle with at all.

Not that we have it so easy, we have our problems too, some of us even have gay children, but yes, for you it may be a tad less enjoyable than for us. And we’ve always sympathized in our own…detached way. We have. And we’ve tried to help in our own….infinitesimal way. But you do understand that IF we helped too much, it would hurt you! It would rob you of the enormous satisfaction of making it on your own two feet, the same satisfaction that our great great great grandfathers experienced, which was really not entirely because of all the slaves and…weapons they had.

Plus, if we helped you too much, that would not be serving ourselves. Which is kind of like…our thing, to put it in words you might understand. You don’t want us to change do you? If we weren’t so rich and powerful, then what would you have to work towards your entire lives? So what if for 50 percent of you it ends in failure or mild disappointment, you didn’t know that, we knew but you didn’t know that, and that makes all the difference! It gave you a reason to wake up in morning. Thanks to us! Besides, so what if at the end of your life, you’re not everything you wanted to be and you have nothing to leave your children? “Quiet desperation” isn’t so bad. Since it’s quiet!

Just be happy you’re alive! Not that you shouldn’t be alive, that’s not a threat or anything, why would we threaten you, we need you! To keep buying things. So be happy, you’re alive! And show your happiness by supporting your fellow man. We’ve even had some stickers and t-shirts made to do our part in helping different industries, like this design we made for the farming industry (See below). Sales are lower than ever before, and we are here to show our support. All the proceeds from these shirts will go straight to the farmers. Or the milkers…whoever’s responsible for milk. And ALL the wonderful dairy products we are fortunate to have.

You see, this isn’t so bad. Workin together towards a common cause. In no time, things will be back to normal and you’ll forget all about our ridiculously rich asses. I mean, assets. You’ll forget all about those. And trust me, that is better for all of us. Cuz we are not like you people. Sac…..sac…..sacrifice is kind of a dirty word in our world. I don’t even know if I’ve ever said it. Outside of the context of pensions and personnel that is, but you guys are really good at it. You make sacrifices ALL THE TIME. We have no idea how you do it!

To be honest, we kind of look up to you for it even as we’re looking down on you. There are some days when we wish we could be like you. I mean they’re rare, like once in a blue moon rare, but they do happen. And on those days we admire you and wish we could do what you do, but we can’t. We’re just too rich and spoiled, like a New York cheesecake, that’s been sitting out on a table for over an hour. Ugh, what a waste, what a burden on our……consciences. Is that the word? Yeah, those things get really troubled sometimes and we question whether it’s necessary to spend thousands of dollars getting our pets groomed every month when some of you can’t even feed your kids. Ugh, terrible. It’s just not fair. But, such is life.

And like I said, we’re not gonna change. We’d change if we could or if we had a good reason to, but…we really don’t. I mean, to get us to care you would probably have to protest all the time, and picket and boycott and be organized and have walk outs and sit ins and strikes and meetings and marches and rallies and demonstrations and unity and more protests, until we took you seriously, until we saw what you see everyday and could no longer ignore the GROSS inequality that exists in our everyday lives! But most of you seem far too complacent to do that so…I don’t even know why we’re talking about this. I’m sure this will pass soon. You guys used to get angry and active and make a fuss all the time not too long ago, but once we gave you equal rights, you seemed quite happy to suffer through the hardships of your lives without much of a peep, and accepted that your failures were your own, instead of noticing that the insurance, economic, political, and education systems are kind of working against you, which certainly works for us.

Oh masses, we hope you understand where we’re coming from. And we do wish you the best of luck, since…there’s not much else you could hope for. Once you calm down, and accept once again that this is as good as it’s going to get, Please remember, that there is more to your lives than struggle and debt. There’s……sunshine, and weather and blankets. Even homeless people have those. Occasionally there’s even a nice park that is safe to walk through, but….just don’t spend too much time there. Live your lives as freely as you’re allowed to, and don’t forget that every dollar you spend, goes to somebody who really really wants it.

Take care of yourselves. So we don’t have to. Haha ;-)

Sincerely,

The 1%







p.s. Newt Gingrich says hi.

The Storm

The Storm I

10-19-10

"the things that can fall out of you in 20 minutes time..."


The Storm is like a beggar
It is like a crying child
The purest form of nectar
that makes humming birds go wild

The Storm is like an apple
being eaten by your eye
or beams of pure light dappled
by a single burning fly

It is a call unto your arms
and unto your heart of soul
It is a place of charmless charms
where rocks are always on the roll

It is a piece of every scruple
that can rot it from within
like when reason finds a loophole
in which new loops can begin

The Storm is music’s quietude
and of music’s great orgasm
The Storm is when you build a ship
to sail a timeless chasm

There’s no telling where it took you
Even though you’ve always been
It is where words dissolve in sound
to say “Fuck you” to the Pen

The Storm is friends with Loneliness
and neighbors with Depression
but the greatest love it’s ever had
is pregnant with Inception

There’s no birth without its blessing
nor a life it cannot fill
yet the Storm just waits there coolly
for more of us to do its will

Living and Dying (sonnet)

Living and Dying (VI)

? - 9-15-99

Living and dying one day at a time
Is a never ending path through progress.
Visions of perfection appear, regress
If doubted, and then reappear like rhyme
Nipping at a numb mind, until sublime
Grace falls in place and shows the flawlessness
All through space—evermore and never less.
Neglecting no longer one grain of time
Doubting the truths that have always been true.
Death is indeed a fateful certainty,
Yet it's no finality. Do not think
It is the end, for life is energy.
Nothing can change that: you will continue.
Godlike, it is the eye that does not blink.

Crystal Countenance

While I was writing the last post I thought about including one of my old pieces from HS. Just to give you an idea of how angsty and indignant I was back then (especially towards my peers), and how it came out in my writing. This is a pretty good example, one I still remember well. I guess you could say it's dedicated to everyone who's ever wasted my time with "social niceties" and/or subscribed to the idea that we're all supposed to act and think the same way. Which is pretty much the dominant point of view of any high school, right? Still, the extent of it was very disturbing to me and I thought for sure the movie Disturbing Behavior was based on true events. ;-)

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Crystal Countenance

11-23 - 25-98

In all the great expectations
I am the unexpected
I don't want to be the norm
and I don't care if I'm accepted
Just see me for who I am
and make your decision
Would you rather see me as a person
or like an apparition
Not that I need to remind you
to place your judgments upon me
You people have been doing it for years
I wouldn't expect it any differently
I'm just getting really tired
of all the B.S.
The acting, empty "Hi"s,
and constant fake-ness
You people know I'm strange
You know I'm not like you
We live in different lights
We see in different hues
Get over it already
It's not a big deal
The ability to be unique
isn't strictly surreal
It is still possible
for a person to be original
tread a new path
or do somethin' else irrational
Just stop pretending
and acting like you care
You know you don't like knowing me
So forget that I'm there
Stop wasting my time
and for once in your life be true
You might as well look past me
'Cuz I already see through you