tearing pieces
off of this loaf
of day old bread
to leave a trail
through the forest
ofdessicateddreams
all while pretending
to ignore the row
of hopping sparrows
peckpeckpeckingaway
any hint of a path
to find home once more

the sunlit vistas of
a larger than life
world of possibilities
slowly darken as age
exposes the idiocy of
a life of exploration
idyllic landscapes
colored by expectation
fade into still frames
as the steady atrophy
morphs excitement into
anxiety down the winding
path hiding the tombs
of every fool who hoped
to affect meaningful
change on a dying dream

we are programmed from
the first confused breath
to chase our passions
then beaten into submission
we must adhere to being
a productive member of
the collective insanity
forced away from natural
tendencies by standardized
testing to ensure everyone
dispassionately follows
the societal guidelines
hundreds of years out of date

this machine makes misery
manufactures falsehoods
while feeding us poisons and
calling it nurturing while
compiling a food pyramid scheme
replacing endorphins with
anxieties then covering up
the symptoms with snake oil
in an ever perpetuating cycle
of dependency on the system
ensuring only the chosen few
truly rise from the muck
while dejected dreamers fill
their pockets with stones
to take a long walk into the tide
or carry loaves of plasticized
bread and follow the trail
of twitching sparrows back
to a home which never existed