questions and answers

my brain has gone into overload.
not a good thing to happen the day before my exam.

the last week was spent studying cultural citizenship.
at first my brain loved it. it all made so much sense.
the division of humanity into haves and the disposable rest.
by retreating into the private sphere
we give up the ability to collectively dream
and create a common good.
market metaphors infiltrate our very being.
we close our eyes to the suffering that surrounds us
while trying to find pleasure for sale.
our bodies become the property of governments
rather than sources of infinite possibilities and pleasure
we fear the laughter of the other.

russian dolls.

unpack each idea and another nestles inside.
in the center is a small doll.
she does not like exposing her private self.
when with others she sees only her own pain.
she believes that it is up to her to save herself and others
must do the same.
she is lonely and scared.
she wants the government to protect her.
to be worthy of protection and respect she conforms.
everything she buys contains hidden within it
the suffering of many.
every time she buys it she helps someone
make a profit.
she does not know those who suffer or gain.
she does not know her safeness
and how it isolates her
from others who are unsafe, disposable, stuck.

i want to change but i am scared.

when i step outside
i step out of my self.
how did everything get to be this fucked up?
this machine we created is so big and so hungry.
how do i stop feeding the machine
without it turning on me?

i want to change the world.
i fear that the world is unchangeable.

which parts of my reality do i create
and which are created through a collective dream?
is it a dream or a nightmare?

how do we wake up?

we could go outside and gently place the doll inside a tree
and under the moon.

maybe during the night a whirl
of leaves will pick her up and swirl her around.

until the song of the world fills her hollowness

and allows the spirit,
which academia rarely speaks of,
to burst her defenses open
until light blows away the walls that surround her.

suddenly she realises she does not have to save the world alone.

we can all do it together.