The Diagram of 2016 – How

Growing up in an extremely sheltered catholic midwestern household I was always taught some very simple “guidelines”. Whether it be good or bad this is the life I know. It was always God, Family, and Country. Whether it be right or wrong – that is yet a whole other discussion but today we realized something as a country and I did as an individual. These are the truths that we live by in 2016:

Sexism > Unity

Diversity > Sexism

Family > Diversity

Money > Family

Power > Money

God > Power

Greed > God

Trump > Greed

And here we are. This justifies all votes and support for the great devil when applied to this diagram. It is undisputable as I have debated and spoken with thousands of people over the last 9 months of my life. It makes how we got here so very simple. This is the truth as voted by our own fellow countrymen. If you study this diagram you will begin to see the problems we are faced with currently. I see this in the eyes of my own parents. The rest is just shit talk. They can say what they want, but these are the new principles by which my own family lives and a much larger population as a whole. I have devoted an entire year of my life, $30,000 in personal debts, and countless unpaid hours working to promote Unity in 2016. But the truth is I believe Unity is currently where I put it in the diagram: dead last. I understand this. I get it. People love to use their mouths instead of their wallets. They want to talk about power and money and how they can acquire it at all costs – this is the baby boomer generation. Consume, consume, consume, and shit on the rest. I challenge you to see where this diagram applies – to me it sums up 2016. For anyone overseas – may God be with us and protect us. We are in for a dark time in our countries history – I can see it in the eyes of the people.

 

 

11:57

11:57 The clock reads

Momentary and sedentary

I return to the road

We travel so often

Yet so unfamiliar

Unusual

The hope of unity

A collection of ideas

Almost perfect

But perfect in its imperfections

It has beauty despite moments

Of Lack of direction

Proceed on our journey

To find people

To share moments and peace

This is my idea to bring

Currency of My Own Time

The little forgotten things

Moments passing 

Fleeting and free

Tied down now to the eternity

Of passing

Time flickering quietly 

Not kicking and thrashing

It’s the unknown riddle

I attempt to make the most of the moments

Fleeting moments

I should have known this

That in the tiny cracks of uncertainty 

Can take down the curtain 

Of flow of currency

I attempt at words construed and written

For the hopes of my own improvement

So in exchange of time 

Not perfection of pursuit

But the pursuit of something new

Everyday 

For you

Humanity it’s Entirety

Sometimes we just need help

A four letter word

That keeps me from running to far off

On days

Where my pants are dirty

My mind worries

Where the next paycheck is coming

So I find myself running

Not with my feet

Constant thoughts

But then I get some help

It comes in any form

Off the beaten path and more the norm

These small gestures I suggest

Mean more day to day

Take sullen weights off my weary chest

I muse myself that the world can see my needs

Humanity in its entirety

Knows what I need

So I just have to remain steady

Hold on hope

That I can persevere

Through the sleepless nights

And life will return back

Resuming that it will be alright

Separate Hands

We all sit around a fluorescent fire

Comforted by being side by side

Yet in a complete new world

Each of our minds

Has gone to find

Together we are in physicality

But in reality

We could not be farther apart

So we watch our fires

Burning in our hands

Selfish held plans

A new sense of community is born

From the hand held fires

That burn all night long

Separating us from

Dusk to dawn

Creation with No Expectation

I don’t wish for much this year

Just good luck to take for next year

Going to need it as I look down the line

Can see a lot atop the mountain in Christmastime

I have peaked from a valley

Not to be underwhelmed with what lays ahead

Sometimes I see more mountains

That lay out over the riverbed

But one foot in front of the other keeps me going

Keeps us going

I try to make sense of this journey sometimes

Is it a worthless novel ride

With no beginning and no finish

Peoples salacious appetites

To consume what is finished

No care for time, matter, or commitment

So crude and raw

Yet the creative process draws on this all

Creation with no expectation

Give in hopes of smiles in exchange

So this year I ask not for riches or gifts

Rather that one of these songs we wrote

Can lie amongst the greatest hits

Batch of Fury

What can I do

Seeing the beginning hrough

What looked like a simple task

Revealed a challenging mask

What I now must ask

What is the drive of a dream

Driving, pushing, ripping with steam

When steam is less of a stream

A trickle slowly flowing

Regrouping a new batch of fury

When it is needed in such a hurry

I knew that challenges would come up

Disrupt my path of commitment

Inner sentiment rattled

In an industry of noise and clatter

Struggling to find what matters

What is clear and concise

Hold on to notes more precise

A harmony that unites

Rather than divides

The stories coming from other story tellers

Tell the same story as mine

In a world less than divine

Struggles and distractions are what they find

I see the same hopes and failures

Hoping for grit to set sail

Here in Front of Me

Everything I need is right here in front of me

My hands, eyes, hope, desire

Everything I can use to bring myself higher

Hard work is the barrier

Constraining my own ethic

I feel that I have now realized this simple truth

What you focus on grows

What you forget about goes away with old

So I must refocus on what is in front of me

All the tools I need

Are surrounding me

Asking me

I will answer

The Roaming Misfit

Some details are always secret

Frustrating and deliberate

Held back with animosity

Towards the roaming misfit

Truth is never quite told

Lies sleekly avoided

News spread through lies spun

Then voided

I hope to deal with such grace

That I can overcome dealing with

The real face

Of a roaming misfit

Hold my tongue in place

For when he shows up to my door

Waiting for the embrace

I will hold back the words true and harsh

Hoping for something more contained and smart

But the webs we weave

Some to build

Others to deceive

I know this now more than before

So I will smile with reserve

When this man shows up to my door