Out of tune like my guitar
Nearly every time I played it because I’m tone deaf
Out of tune like my singing for pretty much the same reason
When I say I’m playing things by ear
I can only mean that figuratively
With either an inner wince of pain
Since organization is my superpower
Or with a total sense of I don’t give a damn
Like the time when I worked at a private school in Mexico
One head honcho left
Leaving the remaining honchos to vie for position
All emailed a cacophony of top priorities
I contacted all four of them in a group email
Copied and pasted all four different first priorities
Questioning whether the top directive would be
The first request, the last request, the request of the senior most or the most logical request
Then I concluded my electromissive
Quoting from the good book of Otis Redding
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So, I guess I’ll remain the same
That was the most professional way I could say
Look you upper and middle management bastards
Tighten this shit up or go fuck yourselves
Here’s something that has recently become out of tune for me:
Complimenting White people on their tans
Call it an adverse political side effect
Discovered in a bikram yoga class
When the instructor gave a shout out
To a guy with a tan
I wrestled with distracted thoughts
While in yoga positions
Nice tan! And you’re still treated like a 1stclass citizen
Wow, you’re so dark! And you won’t be racially profiled
You look so tan! And no one doubts your intellectual capacity
Look at that beautiful brown skin! You wear it better than a Black person
I love that bronze glow! And no one will call 911 because you’re doing some everyday activity
Yeah, best for me to leave tan-praising compliments
To White people
One of my most discordant realizations
Money, not necessarily
Truth
Will set us free
Especially given our legal system
The bigger the economic gap
The more prone the haves
Want to turn the have nots
Into house niggers
Can we have a sense of freedom
If everyone’s free, respected and has agency?
Is there ever
A happily ever after
Without a zero-sum conclusion?
Truthfully
As we gain resources
We expect to deliver ourselves
From uncomfortable, inconvenient and unsafe situations
Even the most enlightened among us
Compete for finite resources
When did empathy become scarce commodity?