The Only Thing That Matters

I use to be an activist.
I use to climb fences
With other desperate, angry souls
Seeking freedom
Rebelling against those
That slighted me.
In the name of human rights!
In the name of a just economy!
In the name of us against them!

I wrote articles
And worked late into the night
Defying, rebelling, shouting, screaming.

I use to march
In the streets
My angry voice challenging
Anyone! Everyone!
We are mad
We wont take it any more!
Enough is enough
Yay basta!

Etc Etc

But one can only filter anger for so long
Soon the body cries out
The bills must be paid
The responsibilities mount
And the booze, cigarettes, crappy food
Takes its toll
And the anger
Especially the anger
Eats away at the very soul.

STOP
JUST STOP

AND BREATHE
JUST BREATHE

The enemy is everyone
And the enemy is no one
There is no enemy
The enemy is illusion
The enemy is within you.

Yesterday I saw
I tiny line of solar-powered statues.
You know the ones that make you smile
(You know they do!)
All in a row
Cheesy-colored sunfllowers
And fairies and puppy dogs
And some very bored worker
In the Check Cashing place
Has a collection I bet
And looks at those little brightly colored things
Day after day
Week after week
Month after month

And maybe a son or daughter comes to mommy's work on Wednesdays
When she has visitation rights
And plays with those figurines
Leaving the memory of the little one
On greasy peanut-butter stained spots
On puppy ears

Mommy daydreams
Between paperwork and weary customers
About her liitte one
Playing in the corner right there
And her heart opens just a little
In her sadness
In her joy
A smile
When there is no reason at all
In her workaday world
For there to be one.

This is the ultimate revolutionary act
To keep the heart open
In the minefields of this 3D world
That feels so real
So real
So real

The heart that refuses to stop beating
The smile of the child like a tattoo
Unwashable
The giddy joy of plastic fairies
Swaying just because it is daytime
These tiny jewels are all that is real

If only we could see
The electricity of it all
We would know in an instant
Oh yes, of course,
The only real thing
The only thing that matters.