Success and Failure

Tch, tsk, tck, tchk, scritch, scratch Shshshshshshshshsh flick flick You hear that? No? Listen closer and I’ll tell you That’s the sound of my pencil Working at the speed of light Blasting through hordes of homework With graphite lasers deeper and deeper into the night Pew-pew-pew! Pow! BOOM! Now I’m done… For now, that is… Until tomorrow when I get another frontal assault By the enemy squadrons of the College Board’s forces Forces… Forcing me to keep my eyes taped open While my will to move on fades away like, “Why am I doing this?” I guess I just wanted to be successful Signing up for classes that would boost my GPA like steroids And it HAS Just take a peek at my report card Once I got one A, I figured I could get another And another. And another! Next thing I knew I was addicted to earning high marks Doing anything to break that ceiling made of bulletproof glass That’s always screaming down “YOU CAN’T DO IT!” But then I got so caught up in what I’m doing That I’m getting no sleep Forfeiting my health Just to get all this “wealth” Now I’m losing myself All this gain is material Its hold on my mind is imperial Now I’m always eating cold cereal With my ego waffles With bittery syrup And this bacon of shame Just from playing this game But the system is rigged It’ll eat up your soul And now I’m like a machine Counting stacks on stacks on stacks Of essays to write And formulas to memorize And all sorts of stuff that make my eyes sting Connected to my robot brain like wires MAN, I’m so tired! But I can’t get relief No, I can’t go to sleep More work to do, yes, more work to do Yes, more work to do No, mom, go away No, dad, go away Don’t talk to me please I’m doing my work Ain’t got no time to play Or be with my friends Or be with my family I got school, athletics, various events Now I’ve become so busy I’ve put my brain on rent To somebody who I really don’t know or like at all Hey…where did I go? I don’t know So don’t say that means don’t matter to ends Especially if those means pull you away from your friends Man, I’m going crazy! All I want is happiness! But now I’m more mechanical Than any pencil I write with Is this success really success? Naw See, we lose what makes us human If we lose track of love. It’s what connects us Strengthens us Improves us See, I lost track of love when I started loving something that Could Never Love Me Back Now I’m disconnected Weakened And unimproved as a person But I’m trying to get back Just trying to grab hold Of that thing that’s as powerful as the universe is old If I have all A’s but not love, I am nothing And time will forget me as I turn back to dust But I won’t let that happen And neither should you