Mediocre media meddlesome and controlling

internet savagery savvy with its mastery

solicited salacious slander

slit tongue in cheek

sneaky in delivery

slippery innuendos

wet with wry wit

Don’t pardon the pundits

how dumb can someone be

in finding fun

from 15 minutes of infamy

the cost to be a hot commodity

comes with serious third degree burns  

caused by a furnace fueled by hell’s fire

so quick to tell sinister crossroad demons 

all your heart’s desire

then offering your soul 

in exchange for earthly riches

and unforgivably forgetting 

the most obvious truth

the devil’s a liar

So what now is your fantasy

your plan to be

more than you can possibly

achieve

in one lifetime 

many minds fail to see

the sweet simplicity 

of this tried and true maxim:

Live your own life 

and not vicariously 

through others

whose only reality

is what’s contrived

by dimwits and charlatans 

nonsense writers and conspiring actors

in debt to hedonistic pursuits

parlayed into profiting off of 

ignorance displayed on tv 

or across movie screens

where we are pushed to the limits

of moral bankruptcy in a society 

catering to anxiety and animus 

as though any sense of direction is scoffed at

like it’s a barrier against self-expression

and our only self-defense mechanism

is not to willingly and blindly 

give in to this superficial system

So turn off the radios and ipods

put the android phones and ipads down

let your mind go

free

as a matter of fact 

turn off the internet 

after you finish reading this

obviously 

then reflect internally

if not for an extended time

then for a brief moment

at least a few times a week

and engage in an internal dialogue

on what it means to live 

as a human 

being …

essentially, life is 

our responsibility

the will and the way

to see or not to see 

on what it means to ‘be’ 

your self.

There are people who love to borrow money and hate to pay it back … Me? I hate borrowing money, but I love to pay it back. There’s a difference between being broke and having a poor mentality. The former can be temporary setback whereas the latter more often than not is an ongoing self-fulfilling prophecy. 

by Kevin Bishop

Uncomfortable in his skin 

since adolescence,

he could not face

the inevitable role 

of getting old. 

This ghost of a man 

who once attempted 

to heal the world

singing songs to the Earth,

“We are the world”

Words inspired 

by a giving tree

in a land never far 

from his heart

until driven away, 

forced to depart.

“Who is it?”

Born and memorialized

on a full moon, 

a mortal lies 

dead waiting 

to be immortalized.

Got to be there,

got to be there 

in the mourning

as the world said goodbye

to this soul.

He, who famously walked 

backwards above men,

dazzling many eyes 

with a glittering glove 

extended to heights 

never before reached.

But even he 

could not overcome 

the burden 

of being pulled down

under the devil’s duress.

A half century of suffering,

he could not rest;

sleepless nights

made his nerves a wreck.

Defeated, 

he could not 

beat it!

The relentless attack 

of the insomniacs,

pale zombies danced 

while looking through 

the looking glass at 

the man in the mirror

filled with half-empty

feelings 

enflamed

hair in flames

sparked the metamorphosis 

this slight figure changed

color like a chameleon,

who camouflaged 

with the pale face of the moon.

Success an illusion 

for lunatics using 

camera tricks 

and catchy melodies

masking multiple-personalities 

left perplexed in the Metropolis

forming a mirage too complex 

to comprehend, 

the inner child suppressed

chanting and raving, screaming,

“They don’t really care about us!”

Endlessly tormented 

by childhood memories 

begging them to please,

“Leave me alone!”

Torture the discrete technique;

prerequisite programming done 

by insidious principalities,

he was not alone.

But no one’s remotely aware 

that the Peter files 

marked classified

has conveniently disappeared 

through the ceiling door.

Can’t you see 

how he was closed in?

Turn the key 

round and round,

find out how

the son of Jack

was forced back in-

to the box.

Remember the time

when he first said, 

“It was a conspiracy?”

So that’s the way

the money goes.

Pop goes the weasel, 

the King is dead!

RIP Michael Joseph Jackson

(August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009)

Unquestionably, monumental challenges lay ahead of me and even though I’ve accomplished an arduous goal, I’m yet again faced with uncertainty of my capabilities to go above and beyond the expectations of excellence.

Anything new often times comes with doubt, when a person wonders how he or she will manage to pull off a feat never before faced. There’s no tangible reference point to rely on and there’s very little margin for error, if any.

What is corporate culture? Is that not an oxymoron? Over these last few weeks (leading up and on into my first day at work) for some reason I already feel the stringency of conformity and an alarming stress of my creative energy dwindling.

The stakes are high, pressure is mounting, time to climb another mountain, but this time it’s steeper and much higher. I’ve made a couple of missteps already and that was attributed to slow acclimation on my part. I tend to take my time early on in any new experience, but it doesn’t look like I have the luxury to do so in my current environment. I have to increase my responsiveness and attention to detail more than ever before.

Anyone else experience this and what did you do to work your way through it?

Surround yourself with winners and you’ll never lose … confidence.