seeyat

There’s an internal monologue within us all presenting our ideas in prisms of light which the world never knows. We protect those ideas, that self, for all it’s worth in many ways but the truest freedom we could ever meet is that of expression without fear of judgment. Hidden away within the recesses of our shrouded minds is a whirlwind of galvanic ideas and emotions hopeful that one day they may find the light of day and be embraced by our peers.

That self is often suppressed; hidden just as well if not better than the ideas it presents us. Such a bitter tragedy is this which haunts us through the entirety of our busy lives. We kill ourselves to fit in. I’m ashamed to see such an expedient approach to life so frequently repeated. People seem to embrace these personal lies when they should cast them aside and reach for an introspective understanding with each breath and every contemplative observation. Ask questions. Become something more; something different.

I recall a poem I had written long ago during a free period in 11^th grade. I spent more time observing the society that shaped me than participating for fear my home life could affect another and there’s something overwhelming about seeing people live their days in the service of peer pressure…

Teenage Society:

Indecision starts to shout.
Shadows of doubt now screaming aloud,
Wondering, questioning what life's about.
Selling our souls to fit in with the crowd?
Is fate simply toying with day after day?
As life were a pawn and there's no other way?
Truly I question thee, how could this be
That our visions of grandeur can cloud what we see?
How curious it seems are our lives 'til they end.
Without purpose or thought we deny and pretend,
Blindly living this lie we cannot comprehend.
Corrupt as we're taught to be one and the same.
A life without reason, we strive to be lame.
It seems their approval is all that we crave,
This thought sparks a flame hidden deep in my brain...
A flicker of thought now becoming a blaze
Summoning questions from depths of the flames,
What's there to prove if we're all just the same?
This entire theology is simply insane.
We long to be equal yet we need to change.
It's as though one who's different is all but deranged.
These years of our lives create bittersweet scars,
Without reason or thought we deny who we are.
Personality gone, slowly losing ourselves,
Dawning false plastic faces like books upon shelves.
Why must it prove difficult simply to be?
Our culture it seems is now void of all dreams,
Manufacturing teens; crafting robots who breathe.
We must now and forever become who we are,
Throw down this persona and heal those scars.
Shed each of society's cultural flaws.
A monthly subscription does not write the laws.
Begin to make choices without magazines
Craft your very own image of who you should be.
Pry open your eyes and you'll soon start to see,
You can change this false image of society.
This once and for all become you and be free.
Bryan Nowak
9/8/05

All the things you are and could be
Some things in others you wish to see
Was not an expected image in my head
Strange and pacified like the dead
Unholy mortals walking this Earth
Alone, yet defiant as their right from birth
Forcing all of the hearts away
Because you know that your life will hurt if they stay
unfortunately when it happens you feel
As though pain is a virtue that will never heal
Knowing all the things our teachers make known
Learning through passage of time with seeds sown
Why love is too kind to be there in hand
This time is important, and it's worth a demand
Not yet a moment to wish for what sings
The singular passing and flourished things
Rushed by or glanced at cannot be a gift
For delicate permanence, there I must shift
Not one to break an unquestioned heart
Never to be one to tear them apart
I love them all dearly and won't yet be able
To lift up my weapon from off this round table
As there is a curse both within and without
Known only to those who've heard all that I shout
Again, here I live for the passing of days
Excitement and joy to split so many ways
When all that we need is just one single goal
Instead our minds shift till they consume our soul
I don't mind the pain and there's less with each year
But that doesn't dismiss this illogical fear
It can be overcome as it has been before
With many as one I can walk through that door
Because as with all things we can make it as one
But now I must leave to return to the sun
Take this and wonder what's meant to be seen
Decide for yourself what is meant to be gleaned
As I'm now still more somber than I have ever been
Make use of this time to portray what you mean