Software that’s deployed incomplete,
we are expected to go with the flow.
Agile is supposed to put people first?
I’m looking at a slew of burnt out staff.
Expectations without the proper tools,
I’m not really a fan of looking like a fool.
I am here to file a corporate complaint,
right now before it’s too late.
The patrons who choose our business
notice the consistent inconsistencies.
Drops, outages, and all flavors of ‘Fail’
are not supposed to be commonplace.
Piling on more the experts won’t survive,
nothing will be left of a fine tuned skillset.
Quality or quantity? An ancient argument.
There is a line I fear we have crossed.
I am here to file a corporate complaint,
right now before it’s too late.
Junk-bait replaced an aspirational brand.
Is that what we are destined to say?
Well I’ll be damned if I let master class die.
Trash is trending and we have a reputation.
Flexible doesn’t mean sacrifice soundness.
I don’t ever want to hear ‘Remember when..’
I am here to file a corporate complaint,
right now before it’s too late.
It’s gotten so much worse with screens,
they allow everyone to speak faceless.
Rude behavior and words like acid,
escalation has replaced discussion.
Aggravating is an understatement,
cowards in person mutate with a mask.
Let’s talk a little bit about disrespect.
One cataclysm is how it all begins,
bellows fade into echoes that linger.
Insults can’t be unread after deletion,
malice just sticks thick in your psyche.
Tempers go round and round noxious,
that virus spreads mouth to mouth.
When it’s not worth an argument
conflict levels off and ends in silence.
Let’s talk a little bit about disrespect.
Disconnection can amplify and erase,
embrace what communication truly is.
If you wish to live an exceptional life?
All you have to remember is to be kind.
Easy as it is to swim in the shallows,
do not feed into a poor cultural norm.
Let’s talk a little bit about disrespect.
Moving a touch above slow motion,
not sure why it feels like déjà vu.
Breathing feels like part of a plan,
but isn’t it meant to be involuntary?
Maneuvered with an old joy stick
in a maze that’s impossible to exit.
Sick of feeling stuck in a simulation,
someone fix this roaring glitch.
The entire quest set on boss mode,
are we really even inside the ring?
Someone please check the specs!
Fuzzy edges are now amplified,
I can’t see the end of the rat race.
No progress, none. Zero. Zilch.
Stuck inside an age of regression,
make no mistake this was calculated.
Sick of feeling stuck in a simulation,
someone fix this roaring glitch.
On to the next level, but what is it?
Climbing into an assumed screen,
we think each decision is up to us.
What if we are merely toys roaming?
Rodents in a cage for amusement?
Locked in a seemingly endless loop.
Sick of feeling stuck in a simulation,
someone fix this roaring glitch.
From Hip-Hop to bop, we ride the jazz tide, swing till you drop/underground Monk playin' some funk/Max Roach coaching the field, drums in the playbook/ Brother Jack McDuff runnin' for a touch down in the open filed/Superman and Jimmy Smith, the dynamic duo’s look flyin' high/Abstract truths on the wall, Warhol’s silver glow/Basquiat’s brush storms the gallery floor/Miles, out of the kool, breakin’ every rule/a trumpet thunderbolt/ stereo vinyl playin'/ Sonny Rollins vibes in the club, cookin’ up fresh notes/church bells ring in his horn/ Man, a river of quotes/The Jazz Messengers mark the milestones in the mist/Miles all the way live, his Sketches of Spain we can’t resist/ HiFi prayers/ Jazz time/ Peace and love for all mankind/Blue Mitchell in the barroom a mural on the wall/Man, it’s all right, baby, hear the crowd ignite/Wynton Kelly’s trio is out of sight like way gone/From street corners to jazz low down rooms, the groove is our creed/a lineage of legends planted in every reed/Spoken in breath, in rhyme, in rhythm’s Sly Stones art/a saga of swing that lives on, heart to jaged heart/ The soulful vibes keeps use alive
If empathy only applies to your tribe?
To put it plainly? You’re a hypocrite.
It’s said people should be open minded,
that rhetoric doesn’t match our actions.
One world respect everybody’s rights,
but only if our flags fly on the same side.
You’re no better than the shooter.
How can you sit and smile at a gun?
When was the last time you spoke up?
We need to break down barriers,
not let them get healthy and fortify.
You bask in hues of revolution’s rubble,
because the blood is opposition’s color.
But if the river began to flood your house?
You would take a bullet for your neighbor.
I thought you said this was about unity?
You’re no better than the shooter.
How can you sit and smile at a gun?
Talk to people who are nothing like you,
a breathtaking world awaits the bold.
There are friends out there to discover
give yourself a chance to meet them.
Say ‘Hello’ in a multitude of languages,
if you aren’t even willing to shake hands?
You’re no better than the shooter.
How can you sit and smile at a gun?
You will never believe what I should see,
but three blue-grey birds on the branch of a tree.
I do not think that they were finches,
though they were only about five inches.
Sporadically, each, in turn, would hop,
as they composed the gnatcatcher bop.
Classical is from the Middle Ages
in the mid-1940's we had Bebop
a fast-tempo 19th / 20th century Jazz
then along came Doo-wop
with group harmonies
the 50's brought us rock and roll
which developed the 1960's
(sad to say) Disco and its glitter ball
then psychedelic pop rock
blues and folk rock
and in the 1970's it was Hip-hop
and also Rap
which was misspelt
it should read 'Crap'
the 1980's were synthesised
1990's gave us Garage and Grunge
2020's saw online streaming
by the record industry which makes me cringe
Country music (C&W) too (hit or flop)
I know it's true I left out (Reggae) more than a few
but no matter the genre tempo or key
the self-same seven notes do it for eclectic me
In the next life if reincarnated
as a mayfly I am designated
it's good enough for me with nothing but fun
for twenty-four hours (under the sun)
until the race is run bonking here bonking there
I'll be bonking everywhere non-stop until I drop
The world now is overflowing with filters,
fast five stars, and a multitude of clickbait.
Society has become an abstract definition,
devoid of any type of civilized boundaries.
I want the honesty of naked conversation
and the ability to discover truth for myself.
We have a license to be phony.
Go on I dare you, take off that mask.
Mugwump mentality is an easy out,
opinions that flex with every audience.
How to research with contaminated tools,
the sixty four thousand dollar question.
It’s getting so bleak sadness is hot,
how can I relate when I honestly don’t.
Pushed aside because I’m not drowning.
Yes, I do have an air of confidence.
We have a license to be phony.
Go on I dare you, take off that mask.
I won’t play the victim when I’m not,
nor wave a flag I don’t fully understand.
Authenticity is the only brand for me,
whether I am the black sheep or hyped
by that brand new trick up my sleeve.
All the make up will come off in the wash.
We have a license to get phony.
Go on I dare you, take off that mask.
Constantly trying the best you can
to be the rock and stand without one.
You know they need you but left sad,
who’s there if you are the one hurting?
It makes you want to cry and yell back,
but you recognize they can’t control it.
It’s harder than it seems, you think:
‘Maybe I’m the one who needs therapy.’
Viciously taking out their lows on you,
because you’re the one within reach.
Taking cheap shots you’re their target
even if you care about them the most.
With each mood swing they lash out
only to apologize for it five minutes later.
Emotional whiplash leaves a mark
you start to second guess your sanity.
It’s harder than it seems, you think:
‘Maybe I’m the one who needs therapy.’
I hate to say this but it’s the truth,
you can’t be of service and risk yourself.
Crying and feeling anxious aren’t normal,
an empty cup will become a domino.
What made you a pillar will start to fall,
the strong can be victims in this crisis too.
It’s harder than it steems, you think:
‘Maybe I’m the one who needs therapy.’
The feeling of a target on your back
and a thousand tongues waiting to scoff.
That’s how you feel being a square
surrounded by a family of rectangles.
You’ve got to be courageous to stand out,
you’re already locked in your reflection.
Ever been the only one in the room?
It feels like every eye is on you.
The longer you sit those nerves stand up,
feeling simultaneously alien and awkward.
Minutes multiply your heartbeat spirals,
you want to run out but that’s too loud.
Is it even worth it?
Hidden tears begin to tease mascara
blinking back weepy warning bells:
This fatal audience will see you fail.
Ever been the only one in the room?
It feels like every eye is on you.
Breathing through it is all you can do.
Have courage, smile, and just be you.
We’ve all been self conscious, it’s okay.
Hold you’re head up straight and tall
Let them see you as the star you are,
shine on in the dark be the spotlight.
Ever been the only one in the room?
It feels like every eye is on you.
Hegemonic, flippy-floppy, swip-swoppy,
filled to the brim with utter hypocrisy.
It’s okay for your team but not the other,
loaded dice cheating your way to the top.
Should have known at 17 what happens
when you choose to think for yourself.
I was once more engaged, until I saw
things for the game of dodgeball they are.
Keyboarders will join an online duel
but don’t see their own communities.
How about backing a stranger up while
giving a block to a friend of ten years
without even trying to talk it out.
Your priorities are stacked against you.
Those morals only exist on your profile.
Trust me, I know you’re not the only one.
I was once more engaged, until I saw
things for the game of dodgeball they are.
Stay out of the firing range. Be discrete.
Only wave a flag you can explain,
anything else? Sit back, get educated.
But that’s not hot, that’s not on trend.
Until etiquette makes sense?
I’ll follow MY OWN agenda.
I was once more engaged, until I saw
things for the game of dodgeball they are.
Set the standard don’t follow the leader.
That’s what I was taught as a little girl,
work hard and you can do anything.
This is the land of opportunity,
there is no limit chase a skyscraper!!!
Everyone can obtain the American dream.
No wonder the ‘It’ word is now ‘Mediocre’,
we’re dogging those who have made it.
Those red, white, and blue colored eyes
have faded into a jaded palette;
Left without sparkle or ambition
right at the struggle they give up and quit.
The bar has lowered and no one cares,
yet they want to throw stones and axes.
Don’t expect to prosper from the game
renegade geniuses are going to change.
No wonder the ‘It’ word is now ‘Mediocre’,
we’re dogging those who have made it.
Love bombs to the unknown mastermind
who found a cure for every form of cancer;
Pulitzer Prize to the one who took humans
interplanetary, until they saw their initials.
If you can’t help than get out of the way,
set the standard don’t follow the sheeple.
No wonder the ‘It’ word is now ‘Mediocre’,
we’re dogging those who have made it.
Ruined by puddles of porch rain
before you had a chance to bring it,
much less break it in;
The robotic reply of ‘Order canceled.
Your item is out of stock. Refunded.’
throws you into a total panic;
As far away as it seems,
there was a world before Amazon;
A girls day of enraptured perusing,
labels brand boxes and Big Brown bags;
A flurry of stores flowing with specialities
speak to patrons who pause then pay them;
Pulling apart plastic to try that purchase,
nothing feels quite like retail therapy;
Pivot from store to store bargain hunting,
in the end you always leave with something;
As far away as it seems,
there was a world before Amazon;
At the mall you don’t need patience,
just indulge instant gratification;
No need for a new notification;
Online is simple, until it isn’t.
If we were forced to let computers go?
We’d still keep spinning and shopping.
As far away as it seems,
there was a world before Amazon.
When you need to yell?
Nothing else will really calm you.
Your flash flood can’t be held.
Those words that are tar on your throat
linger on a self inflicted ball gag;
You just won’t walk out of silence;
Man, I absolutely love an uncivilized
scream in my car;
Wandering through the house with keys
you’ve become frozen in place;
Tearing up a piece of paper everyday
you take out rage on something tangible;
It helps but only just to the side of relief.
Really what you want is to punch a wall
or shatter a vase all over the floor;
Still all you need is a full tank of gas;
Man, I absolutely love an uncivilized
scream in my car;
With just one touch on the accelerator
everything is finally able to be freed;
The death grip on that steering wheel
is all you need to finally set yourself free;
Don’t ever ignore your anger,
just go explore a brand new back road.
Man, I absolutely love an uncivilized
scream in my car.
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