I Am Aware

I am aware

That I make largely empty gestures

Angry and defiant

At the establishment

The established norm

Even though I have no clue if I am making one bit of a difference.

I am aware

That getting angry

Doesn’t solve any problems

But I do think

It motivates me to try

I am aware

That I am weak

That poverty is a weapon

That freedom is

A state of mind

I am aware

That I can only help

Those in my immediate environment

And that I can’t even do that

If I don’t first help myself

I am aware

That I am trapped inside my own mind

A prison of my own making

And that days go by

When no one knows I’m alive

-- Not even myself

I am aware

That time is inevitable

That change is improbable

That I’m fighting against the current

Fighting for my life

I am aware

That there are children watching me

And there’s my answer

My salvation

Because they can’t see their way out of the forest

Unless I first make a way for myself.