Ant or Man

In a bowl of melted butter,
I saw a king fighting for a thorn crown.
Eyes like empty colloseum seats
Legs like faith
Drowning on ego, sinking in lethal liquid
How did he get there?
Was this outcast cast out as wishless pennies
In a well of his own making
How much change will make your wishes come true
And how many wishes until change comes through?
When I look on through the looking glass
Am I the ant or the rest of the class?
What is a cup but a chamber?
And what is an ant but a metaphor for humanity.
Are we drowning too?
How do you float when your heart is heavy and leaking from the footholes?
How many times must I be stepped on before I stand?
Am I an ant, or am I a man?
The walls are slick and I might slip
But how else fail if I don't try?
Will I float or will I drown?
Will we live or will we die
How much of death is inevitable?
And how much of living is regrettable?

Fake is a Mistake…

In the days where nutritional facts are the new taste of food,
And being artificial is the official art of "popular" kids.
Where social hierarchies were banished from the scrolls of the 1800's
Only to arise on magazine covers.
Kings stand upon T.V. screens
Everyone fights to become a commoner.
Dreams built through magazines
Human nature depicted by the pictures of pages
Girls wear make up masks
And make up a new identity,
But it's not theirs to have.
Don’t drown in sorrow
Create don't borrow.
For the face god gave you today,
Will be another tomorrow.
Our lives have gone
And we watch them pass by
Skipping to the tune of commercial lies.
Fake is a mistake
Your identity was never yours to make,
Media mediating new lives to take.
Don’t let remote controls
Control who you are.
And don’t let the public
Lock you behind social bars.
Find the pieces you’ve left behind
And piece together a puzzle of its only kind.
For your identity is yours and nothing else,
Your identity is yours,
You are your Self.

I decided to write poetry as the first project of the question I want to address. I think that Little Brother really tries to convey the significance of standing up for what you believe in, even if that means standing alone. I chose to write in a slam poem format because I really like the freedom it gives me to express ideas. "Ant or Man" discusses the significance for standing up for what you believe in while "Fake is a Mistake" more addresses what I want to further my project in, teen culture and the cost/benefits of straying from the crowd.

-Au5t1n