It’s symmetry, the way things work to completely conquer the fear of their polar opposites. Nothing moves on its own without first drawing a path to explore first. How would we create God if it hadn’t been prematurely sold to us? Fast paced thought processes collide to induce questioning. Was I born to question or again, sold the idea from birth? What drives our infantile dreams of being mass produced and drug induced? Counting hours before this amphetamine nightmare and hopes of rising to a different plateau of cerebral defloration. A cold logic revisits its sanctuary as I lie awake wishing for a monumental epiphany, while each perpetual breeze of thought enraptures my life’s predisposition. Not giving in to regret, fear not and live with dignity; it has become reduced to this colloquial atmospheric state that escapes and soon evolves into a Sartre‐esque personality. Jumping rooftop to asphalt to digress into a star‐crossed love story. The jaws of reality clasp tight like the pinch of an overcrowded revolving door as the smokestacks atop the nightmares lie pensive, waiting to assimilate.

Mind tricks display themselves in a provocative manner, giving heed to a harsh reality which unearths God vs. existentialism. A flicker of light produces reason triggered by morals and ethics. Does existence precede essence? And how?

The television sparks a new virtualization of an alternate Fate to which we all wish we were doomed. The surreal love stories juxtaposed, like a nonfiction farce. Fact defines total infallibility, with no regard to question. The two Tiers merge to form an unpredictable means of sugar‐coated religion. Those who scream “Fire on the Mountain” while Garcia enters his habitual subconscious trip. Why do we make the connection between such a phenomenon and a simple four letter word?

The glazen eyes of future doctors and pilots embrace their success in the fatality of the American Dream, screaming to release the burning sear of the public eye which bores a hole in the true doctrine of Freedom. Taking words with a grain of salt is known to be a thorn in the side of the fiscally stable entrepreneur, who lies jazzed in his meaningless pile of wealth. Held captive to the terror of a failure conjured by their peers, striking fear into the eyes of those who don’t walk the straight line. Blindsided by societal influences never proven to induce happiness. Grasping at the throats of the waysiders who strive to create their own idea of the perfect life. To create decision. to create an alternate standard. To create God.
_______________

Brilliantly lost inside a room with glass windows; the space parading with mediums yet to be extracted from the utopia beneath the ceiling. Endless strands of possibility present a unique asylum to which the Three Voyagers resign to euphoria, yearning for an ultimate understanding which they refuse to believe unattainable. They stand within these walls breeding creativity and curiosity. Trapped within this walls shouting, clawing, tearing, thinking!

Within these walls crying, “Pharoah, let my people go!”

Within these walls, bleeding success from the scars of modernism.

Within these walls, striving to understand the ban on creativity, starting a fire that will never burn out.

Within these walls, brewing a mutiny against the puppeteer and his tightly knit strings.

Within these walls, collaging pieces of a night half‐spent.

Within these walls, exchanging addictions for a brand new year. Within these walls he believes, she believes, I believe: We will never die.

‐Geof Frazier

Success is what every person at some point in time thrives to attain. Any given individual has a natural determination to be happy. That would mean success is equable to happiness, correct? So why is success governed by the American media to represent fame, popularity and fortune? Our generation is being led to believe in a lie to which many will never amount, given the media’s portrayal. On an related note, we are being coerced into higher education to achieve our “expected” goals.

In our flawed society, every child is instilled with a “dream” to go to a major college or university to deem themselves worthy of respect; money is key and power is everything. Don’t get me wrong, many people have a true desire to become doctors, lawyers, physicists etc… My struggle lies with those who want to be something different (i.e. musicians, writers, artists, vagabonds). We are frowned upon if we don’t complete 4 years of meaningless work because it means nothing to us. We are frowned upon when we find happiness by working in a coffee shop day in and day out just to be around people . The proletariat man that Marx envisioned wasn’t solely a working man: he was the people’s man.

My personal blueprint to success is to make people happy. If I can make a person smile, my success is sealed. I work a job to make my fair share, but my passion lies in others’ happiness. Many other non-graduate professions entail the same perspective:

The lone star who plays his guitar in a local coffee shop isn’t doing it because he can, he’s doing it to impact any and every individual who walks through that door. He may not work a salary-based job at the city’s largest law firm, but he makes enough to pay the rent. In his free time, instead of going out to party with the rest of the town, he goes to the place where he can influence people’s lives. In this place, he can be truly happy. He is the people’s man.

The vagabond artist creates works to make people envision a world outside of their own. She travels town to town creating and selling paintings that hold infinite meaning. Her clothes are beaten and her shoes are worn, but she could care less as long as she can affect someone’s life. Every line of her pen or stroke of her paintbrush engenders a unique feeling in every person. Whether they think it or not, their life would not be the same without her. She is the people’s man.

Unfortunately, the majority of the public looks right past these successful and influential citizens. Their influence goes unnoticed to the modern “working man” and his spoiled children. They are ultimately passed off as failure stories and mocked by all generations. When people see them they make an instant deduction: “He’s unshaven, poorly clothed and is sitting alone” or “She’s not the type of person that I want my kids to see on the sidewalk.” This unfounded pass of judgment fuels the “need” to be a rich, powerful industry mogul or a multi-million dollar partnered doctor. It creates the illusion that money is equivalent to success. Does money make you infinitely happy? Personally, I think not.

In a nutshell: true happiness equals success. Success should be governed only by personal goals and not imposed by a society’s common traits. So, the next time you see one of these precious few walking through the streets of the big city or into the coffee shop around the corner, don’t pass instant judgment. See what the smile on their face is about first.

the two undeniable tiers of the human personality are the most confusing and supposedly infallible truths that we know.  then why is it that no one can distinguish the two?  people today use logic as excuse for what they believe in.  unfortunately, that’s not exactly how it works.  logic is not reason, and will never be.  reason is the way that we can say, “hey, that makes sense to me.”  logic is how we can determine that something is actually true.

the mistake that most people make is confusing logic with faith.  faith is a in a completely different category.  how can we describe faith you ask?  faith is a belief in something that cannot be proven with logic.  faith is an inner belief that drives who we are and creates our unique personalities.  faith is the reason that we have religion, the reason that we have a political system and morals.  in essence, faith and logic combined create reason…under which lie the categories of morals and ethics.  complicating matters worse, one cannot live on just logic, there must be faith.  everyone has a faith in something, whether it be science or God…something.

what an impossible subject to understand.  wow.

90% of our generation lacks the capacity to go to a freaking coffee shop anymore and talk about important subjects (i.e. music, art, books). we’re supposed to thrive on these topics. music and art are the cornerstone of our society, music being talented, productive streams of thought put in sound form. not, as i’ve stated in my previous post, entertainment for dancing and drinking. sure, drinking songs are always great…but most kids these days can’t recognize a good lyric if it was explained to them by keith richards. okay, bad example. let’s say allen ginsberg. “WHO?!” you say. allen freaking ginsberg, one of the most inspirational and dedicated beat poets of the 20th century. “poetry?” they ask as if it’s some sort of alienated word used only by emo pop-culture and old people. God only knows what our kids’ minds are being filled with today. well, let’s journey back and take a look at ghostface killah and ne-yo’s hit “back like that:”

Damn, damn, ma, we ain’t even have to go through it like that
It wasn’t even, even that big, man
You know, nah, it’s ight though
But anyway, yo, let me get that coat
Let me get those jeans, and let me get that rock on your finger
Oh, it’s stuck? Then I’ll take the whole finger then, man
Let me get those bags from Paris, and the puppies is staying, yo

what in the holy name of bob dylan is that?! despite the disregard for dialect and tact, there is absolutely no message in those words except that counterculture is absolutely dead to our deprived peers. go up to a random teenager on the sidewalk and ask him what his favorite book is. i’ll be damned if you get an answer that doesn’t resemble the form, “man, books are f’n boooorrringgg.” true, books are selling just as well as they always have been………..to our parents and grandparents. what’s going on here? tell me the price that we have to pay to get our generation back? what can we do to save these souls from complete social decadence? what does it take to get a kid to go in an art gallery and say, “that means something to me” without fear of being ostracized by his peers? that’s a question that we’re going to have to answer pretty soon before we lose them completely.

unfortunately, we haven’t yet forged a road to take us out of the ignorance of which ginsberg spoke of. the first lines of his 1955 award-winning poem, “howl” represent a generation of bright minds…artists, poets, jazz musicians who were overlooked and outcast by another generation of naivete. he used a stream of consciousness style to present his work:

i saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats
floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz,

why haven’t we moved past this stage? why is it that our kids subconsciously condemn ginsberg’s work by ignorantly condemning their own peers’ talent? i ask you, my generation, my peers, to teach your kids these things. bring them up with good music, good morals, good vibes. engage them in the world. ignorance is not at all bliss. help me. help us. help THEM.

our generation has horribly declined musically, the reason for which i will never understand. what happened to the woodstock kids and the ken kesey followers? why did they have to grow up and produce children with bad taste and a lackluster musical prowess? music is becoming nil, while the entertainment industry is thriving off of purely synthesized sounds.

fear not young travelers. our destiny is not pronounced dead until we say it is. the reason being: bonnaroo. the greatest festival to possess our current minds boasts a vast array of talent…like the good old days. who’s going to be our new john lennon?? bob dylan? jerry garcia? joe cocker? we’ve got acts like keller williams who can shred an acoustic guitar and any other instrument given to him…making himself the premium one-man-band. medeski, martin & wood tell us tales of past glory and beautiful conniptions of greatness…laced with a little jazz fusion to relax our brains. railroad earth give us the grateful dead feel that we’ve been looking for: in the form of bluegrass instruments. i guarantee you that jerry garcia would be proud. take a look at tea leaf green…a new generation of a psychedelic jam band infused with folk instruments like harmonic and piano. dj shadow relives the true age of hip-hop, that of prominence and talent. damien rice speaks softly, but carries a big stick, leaving a mark of ingenuity in his strings of steel. another band only needs an introduction: sound tribe sector nine. utterly amazing.

the list could could go on and on. our main problem is the lack of exposure and the lack of respect for true talent. sure, your hip-hop nation can strive off of reproduced synthetic rhythms…but our music takes pride in it’s talent and loose strings from mediocrity. spread the word guys. spread the word.

speaking for the masses, it’s destiny we’re after by: g. frazier II

they fly
ascending the secrets
for fear they might be heard
oh, the price they put on words
the lullaby, she strikes the chords
destiny’s envy
tell us, what do we pay?
what can we say?

and this final song, it’s not over
but we could care less
tell them that we send our best
we’ll carry on speaking
who’s to know the meaning?
of “you’re leaving me too?”
well he’s not leaving you
for home he is destined
but won’t follow their footsteps
he’ll come to rest soon

the boy, he lets his fingers
ride on the rosewood beneath
the steel of the strings
so set on his dream
claiming that he’s terrible with words
please don’t be deterred
his music is pure

and this final song, it’s not over
it’s just off to a start
tell them that he’s not going far
and we’ll carry on breathing
expressing thoughts without speaking
“he’s got it in for him” well,
who’s going to ring that bell?
for home he is destined
but won’t follow their footsteps
he’ll spark the fire soon

<3geof

Echoes (In The Key of E) by: G. Frazier II

peek into the window
and see a boy without a face
and as you step into that doorway
there’s a girl who’s lost her place
oh, look at the way he offers
look at the way she associates
so sheltered from the world outside
the lack of knowing is their fate

the lines are drawn outside
the boundaries fade away
his insistence is illusion
and lies in wait for a different way
the world is closing in outside
she breathes like winter’s wind
complimenting confidence
and makes the reflections stare at him

and as he flies
his dreams go by
and land upon the silhouettes
shining deep against the sky
roses form like symphonies
echoing red in the key of “E”
the minors lose their majors
at last, it’s been redeemed

<3Geof