Embracing the Sewage

This hypocrisy knows no end,

Displays of public disgust, yet rats they tend,

In private, they become akin.

The light at the end of the tunnel,

Many wish to see, but few embrace,

The sewage and dirt, a constant funnel,

To success and happiness, a necessary race.

Life is tough, this truth we feel,

Playing the game yields but loss,

Many seek the light, but few the true appeal,

Fewer still wade through the sewage, and toss.

Entitlement grips all in its hold,

As if living alone deserves a prize,

Attendance is easy, exams bold,

Success, happiness, the one true guise.

If success begets joy and delight,

Then why do folks believe they must sacrifice the bright

To reach the goals that they set and strive for,

Trading happiness for something more.

The project of life, a serious affair,

Where wisdom guides us to take utmost care,

With the carrot of hope and stick of discipline,

Perhaps even with a touch of psychopathy within.

A complex of superiority, one must possess,

Knowing that we can reach for nothing less,

Envy and insecurity, working in tandem,

Driving us forward, to reach new outcomes grander.

To navigate this path, we need impulse control,

To savor the bliss of ignorance as we stroll,

And take on the challenges that life throws,

With gravitas, and purpose, until we reach our goals.

Athletes know only one sport, PhD's only one field,

Singularity is the game;

God takes care of those,

Whose life's reads as an ode,

Not rambles of a madman.

Ironically it is the one who gives the ode control,

Whose a madman to his core.

The question then becomes,

that of the madman or the picket fence,

it is only you who can decide,

whether you want to be average or immense.