*Originally published on Helium.com in 2011
(c) 2011 Richard A. Fajardo
Taught at an early age to fit inside the box
Shown that life is linear and systematic
Get up, work hard, get paid, go home
Everything is so automatic
Quickly, this turns out to be a dangerous path
The emptiness and boredom are problematic
It's amazing, all the coping mechanisms I see
People fighting pain with the troubles of an addict
Be a robot or a puppet, don't take the lead?
Do all the dirty work, how tragic
Daily survival and building towards the future
Now seem impossible, where’s the wizard's magic?
Follow the leader, follow, follow
Isn't it so simple and pragmatic?
Follow this path of least resistance
The status quo is not enigmatic
Gloom, gloom, gloom, gloom
The sadness is emphatic
Doom, doom, doom, doom
The mediocrity is emblematic
What seems so sure is so blurry
The sound of boredom is static
Gloomy skies bring forth worry
The prison cell is psychosomatic
How to break free from this tragedy?
Why is happiness so erratic?
Is the future history and the present a comedy?
To escape this mess, must we do something drastic?
Maybe following isn’t so easy
Maybe all the rhetoric is just polysyllabic
Maybe the answer to the questions
Is to take charge and be dynamic
Don’t let the system take away your mind and heart
Don’t leave your hopes and dreams in the attic
Open up that treasure box of childhood dreams
Feel the power of joy and be ecstatic
Have confidence in your dreams
Don’t let struggles make you panic
Have faith in your life purpose
They might not always understand it
Dream, dream your way through
Your dreams are elastic
Your dreams are the keys to the future
Write your life story, a best-selling classic
Dream, dream your way through
The highs, the lows, the dramatic
Your dreams are the true path of least resistance
See all the possibilities when you let yourself imagine
___
*Editor's Note: This poem was originally submitted for the Helium.com Poetry topic "The path of least resistance". This poem was well-received, as it rose to the #1 ranking among the handful of poems submitted for this topic. If I remember correctly, I started writing the poem one night--I do not think I got very far--fell asleep, woke up in the morning, and finished writing it.
(c) 2011 Richard A. Fajardo
Taught at an early age to fit inside the box
Shown that life is linear and systematic
Get up, work hard, get paid, go home
Everything is so automatic
Quickly, this turns out to be a dangerous path
The emptiness and boredom are problematic
It's amazing, all the coping mechanisms I see
People fighting pain with the troubles of an addict
Be a robot or a puppet, don't take the lead?
Do all the dirty work, how tragic
Daily survival and building towards the future
Now seem impossible, where’s the wizard's magic?
Follow the leader, follow, follow
Isn't it so simple and pragmatic?
Follow this path of least resistance
The status quo is not enigmatic
Gloom, gloom, gloom, gloom
The sadness is emphatic
Doom, doom, doom, doom
The mediocrity is emblematic
What seems so sure is so blurry
The sound of boredom is static
Gloomy skies bring forth worry
The prison cell is psychosomatic
How to break free from this tragedy?
Why is happiness so erratic?
Is the future history and the present a comedy?
To escape this mess, must we do something drastic?
Maybe following isn’t so easy
Maybe all the rhetoric is just polysyllabic
Maybe the answer to the questions
Is to take charge and be dynamic
Don’t let the system take away your mind and heart
Don’t leave your hopes and dreams in the attic
Open up that treasure box of childhood dreams
Feel the power of joy and be ecstatic
Have confidence in your dreams
Don’t let struggles make you panic
Have faith in your life purpose
They might not always understand it
Dream, dream your way through
Your dreams are elastic
Your dreams are the keys to the future
Write your life story, a best-selling classic
Dream, dream your way through
The highs, the lows, the dramatic
Your dreams are the true path of least resistance
See all the possibilities when you let yourself imagine
___
*Editor's Note: This poem was originally submitted for the Helium.com Poetry topic "The path of least resistance". This poem was well-received, as it rose to the #1 ranking among the handful of poems submitted for this topic. If I remember correctly, I started writing the poem one night--I do not think I got very far--fell asleep, woke up in the morning, and finished writing it.