Scale, a poem by Abhinav Aradhi

 

Scale

That’s just how it works,

The world and its jaws.

One false step, and in you go,

Plunging into the macabre.

 

And you think that you’re safe,

Because you’re on privileged land,

But when that land is stolen,

The world does not heed protective charms.

 

If all the world’s an oyster,

Then assured, you are not the pearl.

You are instead all the grotesque flesh surrounding,

A villain.

 

Everybody wants to be someone,

But everybody wants it all,

And when there’s billions of hands in the treasure chest,

Who shall get a single doubloon?

 

We’re all clawing for the crescendo,

Striving for the apex,

Living for the throne.

Commoners united in greed.

 

Power is often camouflaged,

And like a chameleon it shifts,

Hues of violent red,

And brilliant purple.

 

And all the people think they know what’s best,

Because all the people wear controlling headdresses,

And all the people wear each other as rings,

Because they’re all intertwined little beasts.

 

Love becomes a luxury

When all you want is the top,

And you crush coal underfoot

Until the diamonds won’t stop flowing.

 

Footholds up the mountain

Carved out by the mettle

Of people fueled by

The sting of their humble nettles.

 

At the peak is a climax,

And at the top is an apex,

And up in heaven there are classes,

And the world will never stop laughing.