Dysfunctional Dream
by Sam M. Phillips

Do not waste my time,
I’m seeking to climb,
I do not taste the slime
As long as my life is mine,
Line after line,
A mounting cost,
Counting my loss.

Toss and turn,
Do not know how to earn
My daily bread,
I’ve gaily led
An idle life of work
Where nothing I produce is worth
The paper it is written upon,
What have I done
To earn your trust?

Surely we must
Both turn our attention elsewhere,
What do we care
For beauty and art?

Take this part
Of me and cast it away,
Why should it stay
Attached to this machine,
Making it dysfunctional with its dream?

Running out of steam
As the stream
Of my consciousness flows
Away and my debt grows,
No one knows
How hard I push,
How much I gush
As I rush
To have my word
And my name be heard.

I’ve learned too much,
It has become such
A heavy burden
Totally certain
To weigh me down,
Watch me drown.

Water is emotion,
I take up whatever position
It forces me into,
I have nothing to cling to
As this terrible torrent
Carries me with the current.

All I can do is rant,
Fill my lungs with a chant
That is lost in a sea
Of society’s mediocrity.

***

My debut short story collection is here!

INFINITY AND I: Seventy Science Fiction Short Stories

Get a copy here: INFINITY AND I: Seventy Science Fiction Short Stories