A Hammer

When all you have is a hammer,

Everything starts to look like a nail,

But if all you are is a hammer,

Your strategic vision is irrelevant,

and it's hard to peer up the chain of command

For a lack of innovation.

I Never Noticed

I never noticed that I spend my days

Eating what's ready-to-microwave,

Teaching what comes already planned,

Writing what's so formulaic it should be banned,

and listening to pre-made rhyme, melody and meaning.

This is the first time I noticed all the packaging.

Thirty Thousand Stories

I tell thirty thousand stories; on facebook, have three hundred friends.

I have a whole load of experience with less-than-ideal ends.

I've known that I can't stay here, and sometimes that knowledge burns,

But I sooth it knowing you're a friend worth leaving on good terms.

Negative First Impressions

Sometimes, by happenstance

You might meet someone who never had a chance

To impress you

Because someone else told you something that distressed you.

Friends' evidence

Is an inevitable influence,

But meeting someone

Doesn't at least complicate your opinion,

You're a negligent human being.

The Perfect Song

Tastes change, ever so slowly,

But not so with life, or minds.

I can never find the perfect song.

It's always just out of reach.

As a DJ, I'm always one moment behind.

I can never find the perfect song,

But I know that it's out there.

I've heard it before.

Pushed into this desire by the last,

I can never find the perfect song,

But even if it's not in my collection,

I have it in the back of my mind.

The Advice I Hope They Give Me Every Time I Graduate, Pt. 1

I miss the people I used to know,

But not enough to miss those present.

I miss the places I used to go,

But I will probably never go back.

I am sorry for the mistakes I made,

But not so sorry that I won't make twice as many more.

I do not want to dry up.

I do not want to die.

I just want to learn to live right.

In This Ironic World

Every youthful mistake I made in this ironic world,

Which I recognized and was unprepared for,

Was because I wanted too much and did not strive for more,

Because I was too focused on myself, and not introspective enough,

Because I was too focused on strength to be tough,

But someday, every old man's mistake that I will make

Will be because I was unwilling or unprepared to take

The risk of being youthful.