the answer is no answer, but the questions have to keep coming

i would like to say
that there is a greater
meaning
to all of this,
that someone's idea
of religion,
of politics,
of social programs,
of happiness
has pinpointed the way
we should all follow.

but that would be bullshit.

the truth remains that no one way
is beneficial to everyone.
no one has a clear cut path
carved out
that reveals the nature of us all.

there has been no book written to answer
all the questions.
no proof given to one final answer that
ties all of this together into a neat
little pill
that we can all swallow.

i have met some very convicted people
in my life,
people who swear by the answers they
have found,
people who have turned their life around
with faith,
but i just couldn't stand in line and follow
their lead.

yet we wage wars on faith,
design ways to screw over others
because their ideas conflict
with our own.

we even use the idea of no faith
to convince ourselves
that it is okay to step on the backs of others
to climb the ladder of success.

with enough buzz words,
our governments have concocted ways
to rally the forces
to convince us there is a common enemy.

they use
democracy,
freedom,
America,
terrorism,
drugs,
liberty,
God,
wealth,
prosperity,
resolution,
conviction,
abortion,
racism,
sexism,
healthcare,
housing,
along with every other
buzz word
to suckle at the
American tit,
and feed off of common
ignorance.

as long as we're all sheep,
there will never be a reason
to wander
outside of the fence
to see what the rest of the world
has to offer.

as long as we are a nation
hypnotized by social media,
by smart phones,
by television,
video games,
processed fast food,
and all the rest of the treats
they force feed us,
we'll never wake up to the
reality of slavery,
of subservience to an
out of control machine
designed to keep us
in line.

what it takes is living our
lives individually,
constantly acquiring knowledge,
refusing the easy answers,
and being grateful
for what we already have.

it takes setting aside everything else
and concentrating our efforts
on our own particular demographic,
on the people closest to us.

we're all just trying to make it through,
and it is the responsibility of each one of us
to help those who can't do it for themselves.

never stop asking questions.