Necessary Disturbance

With my one-track mind I need to find a thought of a different kind
In the haze, the drowsy daze, the vast, unending maze
I can’t just settle, hold back, sit down and unwind

they set a limit on my speed, unaware of the obvious need
to escape and to fly and to charge ahead
why can’t I savor the night and sleep until three
and yell in blank faces that their lives are dead
why can’t I do my laundry when I please
forming new outfits every time I mix the colors with the whites
and say what I think and piss people off
and join the hidden others who are willing to fight
for a life they can live, one that will give back
and not put them to sleep
where they’re not reprimanded for the slightest peep
of disagreement, disregard, dissatisfaction at the action of the masses
shuffling along in chains, ignoring the pulse of their brains
that tells them they don’t need these classes
these hypnotic lessons that are supposed to prepare me
but really ensnare me in their lie
that if I don’t learn this and I can’t do that
I’m gonna fail and lose so why even try

With my one-track mind I need to find a thought of a different kind

a new idea, a spark
something to convince me that I’m alive
to stand on the cliff
and not fearing the water below just dive
into the raging sea, escaping the part of me
that wants to grab the edge and cling
and when I’m washed ashore after my first sip of release
I’ll gasp for air and open my mouth and sing
a song of lamenting laughter
at all the years I’ve wasted
walking in line unaware of another path branching off
a separate fruitful limb I could have tasted
if only I had listened to the suffocating silence
and shouted out determined to make a noise
banging and clanging to wake people up
so they’ll know we aren’t puppets or plastic toys
we won’t be pushed onto one track, trudging together in a pack
with rules telling us all to march the same
but we’ll jump over their bounds, reaching out in every direction
to end the boredom of this game