Living Colour

Nothing is real... think about it.

Everything you want you cannot perceive
Caught up in the concrete grey
Of capital gain and the standard way
You want to be king but you're stuck under thumb
Of the need to earn and put dreams aside
Your life passing by two weeks at a time

You want the life that is out of reach
Feeling hopeless you try to find something to keep you sane
A drink, a relief, something to forget the pain
You want to believe that anything is possible
But you know that nothing you dream is real

You look back on hopes and dreams
To see where things went wrong, a crack in the seam
What was the indecision, the wrong advice
Someone that lead you wrong, were you blind
Did you not reach high enough, did you miss your chance
When you're left empty with only one thought in you head
Nothing last forever
Nothing is real
And you want way to escape this mundane

You must try, you must achieve
Reach for those things that the gentry says are out of reach
Listen to your inner desire, never try to drive it out
When you let the drive go, you are no longer alive
You are just a cog trying to survive
Life without purpose is the ultimate sin
You must believe that anything is possible
And see that nothing is real

You must break away from your routine concrete gray
Find the desire from the world within
Life a life worth the breath in your chest
Try for more than the average gain
And believe me when I say that no matter how you feel
See that everything is possible but nothing is real

Author's Note

This poem, as indicated by the title, was inspired by two Living Colour song "Type" and "Nothingness." I'd been looking for "Type" for years, and thanks to youtube I found it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1D6nJtMa60. Part of the song had been stuck in my head for ages and I finally found it today! I think both song have some very deep things to say, and I tried to also say a few things in this particular poem. The big thing was "nothing is real." Try not to think of it as what you would normally, take the phrase from a second angle.

Reviews

[pal]

"You look back on hopes and dreams
To see where things went wrong, a crack in the seam
What was the indecision, the wrong advice
Someone that lead you wrong, were you blind
Did you not reach high enough, did you miss your chance
When you're left empty with only one thought in you head
Nothing last forever
Nothing is real
And you want way to escape this mundane"

True this is the state of mind many a time.
I relate very well to this poem and this is what i intend to express in my poem
42. on cross roads-http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/gopalann/250957/

pal

[Carole]

Very thought provoking piece, Blake. For some reason this reminds me of the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. It talks about chasing after the wind, which I feel parallels with much of your poem and what you are trying to get across.

You must break away from your routine concrete gray
Find the desire from the world within
Life a life worth the breath in your chest
Try for more than the average gain
And believe me when I say that no matter how you feel
See that everything is possible but nothing is real

I had to read this a couple of times to grab a hold of what you were saying, and I will have to say-you are definitely a deep thinker. You see things the average person doesn't and I consider that a tremendous gifting.

Great job, Blake! And-keep on keeping on. I can only imagine what you are going to do in our world to impact it.

Blessings, Carole

[Pauline Marie Daley]

Very thought provoking. Its all too easy to get caught up in life. I love the line, "Your life passing by two weeks at a time" It brings to mind those couple of days as a child that my parents would scrape together all the change they had to feed us because pay day was just a day or two away...
Your poem is so amazingly true. Its a truth that we may not realize readily, but the last line says it all. In this world of seemingly endless possibilities, society tells you that if you just try hard enough you can reach your dream. But its not true. With the falling economy and people just being the way they are, the only dream you'll reach is trying to survive. This is a very inspiring piece, thank you very much. :-)