Write Off

They profit off your skin
And pulverize your bones
Then after the fix they put you in
They take away your stones

They snicker at your tears
And drink them like champagne
Regardless of how many years
You helped their record gain

And finally, when you are spent
And feel you may expire
That's when these heartless fiends relent
And force you to retire.

Getting the Wind Knocked Out of You

Have you ever been comforted by a lie,
Defended a deceit for which you’d die,
Or would you be upended by the truth,
Tossed about and shaken like a youth
Who finds out once they finally face the fall
That solid isn’t very soft at all—
Would you rather take a sec to catch your breath
Or be smothered by deception until death?

Lip Service

The day your dreams were done
You frolicked in the sun
And now, another year of bliss,
Your cup doth overrun.

The benefits of clan outweigh
The freedom that you sign away
And all it costs is just one kiss,
Or so traditions say.

Monumental

Growing callous
Stabbing throats
Worshipped phallus
Horus gloats,

Set's disciples
Won't bow down
They’ll scuttle scruples
To steal the crown,

Hapless mortals
Aren’t dismayed
*nervous chortle*
In the pyramids shade.

Stay Safe

A bumbling buffoon
Defers to a loon
But off in the wings
Just yanking those strings
Are those who hope soon
To proclaim themselves kings.

So many asleep
Like good little sheep
What will they say
When the wool's pulled away?
Some earplugs may keep
The bleating at bay.

Streak

Make a break
Sink a ball
Bet your stake
Beat them all
See your shot
Take a cue
When you’re hot
Run ‘em through.

Re-education

Of all the things I could have done
Here’s me: the most annoying one
So I simply stay home and try to maintain
This fleeting feeling that I’m still sane
It seems I had my time for fun
And now I learn the way of pain.

Versus

There’s a really good book
I’ve been meaning to read
But you can’t school a rook
When the King bellows, “Heed!”

Or lecture a pawn
Who is likely to die
When the Queen starts to yawn
Just to catch a knight's eye

The bishop may bless
All who fight to and fro
But there’s an end to this mess
That good book says so.

Cagey

Politicians ply the pander ploy
To bolster a bulging ballot box
Apparently quite anxious to annoy
The foolish fowl that voted in the fox.

Prostrate

Remember when you’re on your knees
How anxious you were to appease
Those with conquest burning in their eyes

Importing destruction to smugly claim
That you’re a good person is not only lame
It is when the posture surely dies.

Outsider

Who should lead
Is a point of contention
The one we need
Is beyond convention.

Plot Armor

The stage has been set
The players all fed
Their lines, now we get
A climax to dread
Who knows what cast could be reborn
Perhaps the freedom we currently mourn
Beware all heroes they portray
There’s only one Boss we must obey.

Abdication

No more heavy head
The crown has been shed
Leaf by golden leaf
A monarch is dead
His season so brief

The branch that bore fruit
Is now destitute
There seems to be no heir
And now we ask how hard a boot
The new regime will wear.

Catenary

The sorrow and the joy we weave
Into the cloth of life
Are why we laugh and why we grieve
Through trying bouts of strife,
Despite what little we perceive
The tapestry is rife
With many flaws that we must cleave
Like thread before a knife.

Echo Chamber

Empowerment is such a rush
Forget about grace and poise
Growing louder the more they flush
Empty vessels make the most noise

The spiteful never check their pride
And how much it destroys
They’re hollow with no heart inside
Empty vessels make the most noise

Confused by the compulsive lies
The system routinely employs
They spew nonsense but think they’re wise
Empty vessels make the most noise.