1%

I lean back in my reclining sofa,
full-grain leather, Indian import,
and light up my 90 inch LED to the news
only to see protesters out on Wall Street.

They've been camped out for weeks,
speaking out against financial inequality,
slamming rich people and their fortunes,
pissed the fuck off... at people like me.

I won't tap dance around it, I'm well off.
Attended Harvard Business on my father's dime
Graduated top of my class,
before being sniped by a consulting firm.

Now I work 60 hour weeks, if I'm lucky.
I get up at 5 a.m. each day, drive to Starbucks
and order my usual over-priced beverage
alongside whatever breakfast treat catches my eye.

When you have this much money
you don't think about how you're spending it.
In constant search of comforts and higher quality,
there's no price tag on having the best.

So the 6-figure luxury BMW I drive around?
I do it for the 15 minutes it takes me to go
from my driveway to my office -- as a sweet reminder of
why I'm working myself into an early grave.

So yea, I'm rich, and eat at fancy restaurants
when I can find the time and hire someone
to clean my place before I get back at 8 each night
just in time to kick off my Gucci loafers and watch TV.

My blood pressure's also 140/90 and I'm exhausted,
all side effects of a high-pressure job that involves
multi-million dollar deals and pissed off CEOs,
livid at the idea they need me to fix their company.

It's true, I make in a month what the middle class
manages to amass in an entire year -- 50 grand or so --
and I go through it just as quickly,
filling every blissful moment of personal time.

But that guy making 50 to 60k who gets his raises
a thousand dollars at a time over 40 years?
He's probably happier at this very moment,
despite what some pissed off folks on TV say.

escape

inside you have routine,
familiar faces and activities,
an expectation -- if ever so dull --
of what tomorrow brings.

once outside it's nice for a year or two,
you can enjoy the sun and sky.
but losing an edge breeds complacency,
and to survive you must be paranoid.

emotional bars replace physical ones,
as you're forced to abandon loved ones.
you come to the soul-crushing realization
none of your dreams will ever come true.

the pain inside comes from know you can't,
and outside from knowing you never will.
it's true i've busted out,
but i've gained anything but freedom.