Eric Chaet

FIGHT FOR YOUR SELF


Whether you live among patriarchal nomads
or in an urban monarchy or oligarchy of wealth
drenched in propaganda & hypocrisy
you have to fight for your self
or those who can
will keep or take everything you need from you—
but what is your self?
what do you need?
do you win the fight if you become one of the tyrants?
or the pet of some group of unbalanced neurotics?
if some referee proclaims you Champion?
if you sacrifice what you care most about
in order to survive without having to
protect the seed of it, cultivate it
in its most vulnerable, blind, invertebrate stages
&, so, thrive, prevail, stand out
among those who die along the way
& those who whine their way toward death
& those who are featured in the magazines
& interviewed on television & radio
& who command great fortunes & military forces
wreaking mayhem generation after generation
while making dignified proclamations to reporters—
did you fight for your self—
or did you surrender it without a fight?