A new poem by Nick Ulanowski
Sometimes I lay awake at night, pondering what he said
Staying restless and high-strung, I toss and turn in bed
He said, some read “War and Peace” and their takeaway is it’s just a fun adventure
They’ll consume media like buttery popcorn until they have to wear a denture
But others can read a candy wrapper and unlock the mysteries of the universe
They’ll think about the bubblegum factory and ask how hell is any worse
What he said was true, there’s degrees of depth in what we see
He was a wise man who went from rags to riches to infamy
His name was Lex Luthor and he said this in “Superman: The Movie”
Every morning at the office, I feel like a cog in the machine
It’s like I’m in a swarm of locusts, faceless, and eyes on green
They say I can live the dream if I keep my head in the game
With a vision to invest, I can make it big, and every day won’t feel the same
But in the meantime, I’m just a working bug without a name
When I get home from my long commute, I need to feel at ease
Zuckerberg needs me scrolling feeds, clicking ads and planting seeds
Netflix needs me paying fees, binging shows and posting these
I need to stay engaged so I can be a part of the conversation
If I don’t watch the latest, hottest television, it’ll be social ostracization
I won’t know what to say, they’ll remove me from the hive
I’ll be isolated and alone, cast aside and eaten alive
When you speak to me of great literature, it’s not something unknown
But sometimes I can’t get past the second page before getting distracted by my phone
I understand your literary references, I read about it on Wikipedia
George Orwell warned us all about how The Party is misleading ya
And he coined the term “doublethink,” that thing done by Donald Trump
And I know what Animal Farm’s about, they explained it in the movie “The Hunt”
Snowball was an idealist pig, scorned and treated like the litter’s runt
I know who Kurt Vonnegut is, and Ray Bradbury, so don’t front
Don’t call me an ignoramus, I read the headlines every day
I know the great authors’ names and I know what the experts say
“Fahrenheit 451” was about how censors burned a bunch of books
Like college campus “SJWs” or those Bush and Cheney crooks
I’m an educated American so bite your fucking tongue
These insults are getting tiresome you pretentious, lazy bum
When we reach the end, we want to feel like our existence mattered
When we’re blowing in the wind and our ashes are all scattered
We want to feel like we accomplished something in the life we lived
We want to be able to tell our story proudly without them saying that we fibbed
Perhaps that’s why some people never light the match and start a fire
They’re too afraid of destruction to aim for the possibilities desired
The red, white and blue wants you to obey, conform and consume
But while you stay passive and afraid, a somber reality starts to bloom
You’ll lose what makes you special, you’ll lose what makes you you
If you let them get you, your proud story will never be true
You’re worth more than your title or how the system’s defining you
