The Worth of Truth

on

There is a kind of exhaustion
that comes with delivery
and perfect execution
like the hidden fee
a service license agreement
you have to constantly renew
for energy consumed
the cost of technology
is moving forward
into entropy
inevitably
all systems decay
and something new
has its day

and it turns out
the truth is not as popular
as the masses claim
it’s a kind of lip service
to say that we all seek it
because it’s clear
when the cause is identified
the consistent demise
in the weak spot
the jolt is too violent
the red pill ride
too rough
regret is a hairline
crack that creeps across
your vision
tinted with wishes unmet
of who you could have been

the sweet lies fed
by the illusions
of transnational caring
are far too tempting
quid pro quo
a network machine
for marketing-laden hooks
one-liners, pick-me-up’ers
put-me-down’ers
you believed these were your feelings
when the relating business
is worth millions
and the mainstream
always claims
it’s different, everyone’s unique
just like me

when I dig deeper
for real meaning
it becomes
a numbers’ game
watching them shy away
seeing the mirror
look back
with a broken
empty image
that’s not pretty
how many followers
is your integrity worth
oh you got thousands
pissing off the crowds
like your life is somehow
richer for being
an apple of discord
with stolen mindshare
propagating envy
waving the idea
around like a magic wand
that everyone wants
deep down to be seen
by many many people

please, this little inch
of self-important
validated existence
self-authored
businessmen and women
posing
as poets and dreamers
selling “the truth”
in predigested packaged up
lines of shallow judgments
because critically thinking
is hard and requires
considering more than having
a little corner of ordinary
heartbreak, counted losses
turned niche
made to look perfect for the masses

and thinking up some bs
all on my own
just made me an expert
and gives me a sudden authority
on what’s relevant
cuz I’m all grown up now
I know whatever I think I know
typical adolescent world
with every emotionally driven
decision I dive
deeper into the suffering
of being
to pull apart the cogs
of this social conditioning
to correct
what doesn’t work

hasty judgments
built on shock value
to make a buck
so much ego
doesn’t eliminate the fact
that kindness is essential
in a society divided
by mutual indifferences
like the way you blew me off
for calling you out
when you stoked the fire
just to get more likes
at the expense
of the glaringly
obvious truth
your written words
don’t care about me
or anybody seeking
awakening
in this living dream

What do you bring
if this is what poetry
has become
just let it die a mercy killing
to preserve an ounce
of human dignity
immeasurable in worth
these fancy verbal
twirls masked in eloquence
conceal rotten habits
the excess of convenience
is a cancer that has spread
disease to the fabric of our beings
we can’t process
so much garbage
oceans, skies, cities, bodies
it’s time to step up
and take stock
if this life is mine
that means it deserves
my utmost respect
it’s time to act like it

these factory-new distractors
endless tricks and gimmicks
made precisely
to grab my attention
like falling for the picture
of how it looks
but it’s just fast food
the worth of truth
became so clear
that moment I thought
it was easier
to take a short cut
for a faster richer feel
but then the lack
of nourishment
always leaves a growl
stalking my belly
roaming these mountains
of wants and needs
hungry, in search
of actual sustenance