Cover art by Sahra Vang Copyright © January 2011 by RIOT IN THE SKY™ 1st Edition | Digital Version
surplus
an epic poem
by sahra vang nguyen
I. Bewilderment strikes my brain every time I witness children become teachers Stepping away from the classroom conundrum Electrify mind control Expose new lessons located at the intersection of madness and ingenuity Such unconventionality and extremity spewing from the budding consciousness I contemplate the possible domains for which they learn to scream unspoken semantics Learn to fall off the sidewalk Learn to turn clocks backwards against parental discretion Learn to climb rooftops swinging bottles with eyes-wide praying for a chance to drown away in the galaxy of forgotten gems Learn to tattoo wings on their backs because they say earth is a hell Learn to huff stars in the backseat of a Honda Civic, draped in a velvet night to feel invisible yet simultaneously integral Learn to construct enemy lines in a narcotic nation Learn to purge peace within themselves Learn to turn inwards for a beating of the belly no punching bag can escape
surplus by sahra vang nguyen
Learn to be so disgusted with the reflection in the mirror Learn to feed off the fear of growth starving bottoms hollow Learn to perform an isolated exorcism against the selfinduced loathing of inner being Learn to delicately slit their silken shield to straddle the realms of pain and pleasure Learn to catch staccato breaths in the suffocating onslaught of death Learn to break Pinnochio’s nose off Learn to slay the loner with slingshots and slurs Learn to crucify their peers on the monkey bars Learn to corner another child for size and sexuality into the closet, into the dumpster, into exclusion, into selfdestruction Learn to start cyber wars that manifest in suicidal contempt Learn to cut others with the viral creation of rumors, feverishly spreading amongst the masses, negatively accumulating missile power, ultimately finding its way back to the victim who has already begun to drown and with the extra combustion, drifts to the depths of abandonment with all momentum lost Learn there is no school without cruel Learn the red and green wiring for timely weaponry Learn to transform school into a warzone and dangle the gift of life across a hostage’s face Learn to sacrifice the innocent in order to live out a bloodthirsty imagination
surplus by sahra vang nguyen
Learn to turn sadistically perverse fantasies into unfathomable nightmares into unspeakable reality Learn to blur the distinction between reality and agony Learn to set up makeshift alleyway clinics to strangle premature babies Learn to swing baseball bats for smashing skulls atop concrete Learn to make ruthless attacks on walking reflections of suicide pilots Learn to dehumanize an entire nation down to the red dot Learn to steal unwrapped gifts from the virgin temple Learn to stack ten plus bodies on an innocent fifteen year old girl, banging the consciousness out of her mind and thrusting her barren vessel underneath a park bench Learn to draw the world blind and imagine crimson explosion with the tug of a trigger Learn to see the tunnel of life through the barrel of a gun Learn to surrender to the fatalistic mentality, ease the fear of failure because nothing is with fault Learn to find slumber in the hysteria of mind over matter over mind Learn to ask questions in the areas where no answers exist Learn that suicide must be a one-way ticket into a heaven disputed Learn the pains of dreaming Learn to want more but never having enough No surplus for twenty-one plus years. surplus by sahra vang nguyen
II. Why do so many youth call upon death before life has barely begun? Unborn bullies and mini Machiavellis Slip peers through a noose of loose slander to hang humiliated Homophobia at its finest hour Sticks and stones—now the Reaper’s melody The psyche is more fragile than the physical How many girls must take their own lives Before the rest of the world decides they are ready to address disparaging tunes against women? Just another sing-a-long until the corpses emerge. Have we forgotten that children know nothing until they are taught? Children know nothing until they are taught. Watch and learn— Big brother isn’t the only one scanning with eager eyes Every channel, every street corner, every moment becomes teacher Default education leads children to the brink of Wonderland Lost in a labyrinth of hallucinations Some prefer to never wake up The world looks better with both eyes shut
surplus by sahra vang nguyen
“Take me back to Neverland” they beg while standing on the edge Because no one ever taught them how to fly on Earth No one ever taught us how to fly on Earth They teach, “Money doesn’t grow on trees!” No time to plant seeds and wait for fresh fruit to mature Most will end up rotten, falling to the bottom And growers forget they are responsible for the whole batch How many years will it take for the mind to ripen before the world can taste its sweet juices? Perhaps too long to find out Strange fruit sways with the rhythm of the pendulum Blood and money running the course of time Puts us all at the mercy of expulsion Fibers of education filter out the highly potential yet lowly expected for greatness The prove-yourself-process came too many years too early If there is no performance There is no pay If there is no pay There is no performance If there is no performance There is no pay When does a new day start? There are not enough business models to save the state of our children A capitalist system minimizes risk factors with young
surplus by sahra vang nguyen
mavericks 1. Invest in only the best 2. Invest in only what the nation needs Too many children topple the trade-off Life equated We refuse to funnel more money So we rob our children instead A Robinhood backwards Time twists our imagination until a warped reality appears: Faithful followers of conventional steps to success have been systematically pawned! $200,000 in debt before the first job out of college If they ever make it Financial shackle for decades Freedom proves to be an illusion When do they start living? No wonder why adults have forgotten how to dream. Displaced children of overpopulated classrooms Aimlessly search for belonging Maybe the heavens will take them Crown our children with a ring of faith America failed to see Perhaps the prisons will house them Keep them barred from savage streets in antagonistic irony Perchance the rabbit hole will swallow them Toss their marbles around for chimera to catch Dismissed faces that shall never be missed
surplus by sahra vang nguyen
Ancient pipes run smoother without congestion School bells ring like a metronome Potential slowly wastes away with the ticking of time Freedom is a stranger to these halls. This population is a problem So much promise Not enough time to prove it Not enough patience to foster it Not enough pay raises to sustain it No advance for the class failures The world can’t wait More money now or else there aren’t enough problems Watch and learn how to become the internationally most hated nation The golden apples of our era grow themselves No public advance necessary—inherent advancements inherited privately There can only be so many drivers running the machine There aren’t enough jobs for the living Children have no chance No time No dollar sign Children are the failing business of the 21st century Is it too late to shut this operation down? No surplus for 21 plus years.
surplus by sahra vang nguyen
III. Children! The forgotten facet of futuristic glory Lost morality amongst caretakers A system corrupt denies all accountability Disadvantages become premeditated advantages for maintaining world order A generation grows into ignorance without knowing the difference between oblivion and bliss A mother’s womb is the last haven In life we see the union of night and day The baby’s body floats like a crescent moon illuminated Curious wanderers of the world Crawl with a precious light in their eyes The beauty of truth uncontained strikes a blinding glare On pedestrians who prefer walking in the shade Avoid the burden of overexposure. Children! Behold a case of the greatest contradiction Are they a miracle or a disaster? Are they vulnerable or dangerous? Are they an investment or a trade-off? Children—simultaneously heralded as society’s greatest hope And most feared renegade surplus by sahra vang nguyen
Cradle rockers threaten the foundation of ivory towers Everything is nothing until meaning is applied Perception surpasses reality You can’t tell a child what isn’t The untamed perspective is wildly vast More than the conditioned gaze Children bare the audacity of asking ridiculous questions A thirst for infinite knowledge Prolific inquiry stirs the infrastructure of Masonic pyramids The peak doesn’t feel so out of reach When dogmatic blockades crumble Step inside another’s mind To walk a tight rope Or frolick in the plains Or swing through the jungle Experience the timing of ignorance before it sours Does the danger lie in not knowing or knowing too much now? Children! All the things we can learn from them Children All the things we learn about ourselves in them Will the world ever admit We have more than we choose to care for? Regress into a newborn state of mind When the unthinkable was the best idea yet Protocol is futile surplus by sahra vang nguyen
The higher Wall Street climbs The deeper it digs its own ditch Not enough figures can save us A suffocation of material mummification Graves become flooded with coming-of-age spoils Have we cheated ourselves of the greatest surplus only time can afford? The tragedy of uncultivated talent Leads to the unsung hero’s demise We will forever be in debt Drowning in the abyss of disenchantment If we fail to resolve the crisis in our minds And continue to believe in children as No surplus for 21 plus years.
surplus by sahra vang nguyen
www.riotinthesky.com
Sahra Vang is a writer, painter and an advocate for all things good! For artwork, blog and extended bio, visit her website at www.riotinthesky.com
For questions, comments and collaborative inquiries, holla: info@riotinthesky.com