What can we do and say here ?
Why shouldn’t we speak into this life?
What are the consequences of following the apple cart straight out of town?
And what of the rumor of our cities burning down?
You have to protect a space where you can function and think
And be immune to the manipulations flying all around us
With the corrosive motivations to coerce and condemn
Why should any other voice attempt to annihilate your own
And why would anyone allow their voice to be shattered and shunned
After all it is your own choice in the end
If you take the leash off or wrap it tighter around your neck
You can feel your soul leave the playground of your being
When you let it become bewildered by inactivity
And likewise
You can feel certain aspects of the world
Swell and rise against you when you catch momentum
In the direction of your goal
And also there’s the possibility life over plays it’s hand
And leaves people in the vortex of giving up
Having abandoned hope
Like broken swimmers treading water in the shallow end
Yesterday I went up to 47th street to trade some old watched for quick cash
People with cardboard signs
Selling gold and diamonds
Buying them as well
They would ask as you walk by
You got something sell
Yeah
I would say
Some watches
Come this way
They’d lead down hallway up some stairs into a locked room with a safe in it
A guy behind plexiglass sniffling
What’s he been sniffing you might think
Hi have a seat you sit
And slide your watches through a slot
He looks em over
How much you want for these he asks
Acting uninterested
You answer and he ignores you then asks you again
As a way of negotiating
He’s gonna pretend you didn’t even say the first price
All day long these guys here making deals
Buy the jewelry off the streets
And they must be selling it as well
So much energy spinning around
The euphoria of things
I sold one of em and went in and out of other corridors to sell the second then I popped the train downtown
To meet an old friend
Young guy who had heart problems from the shots
But never said anything and certainly made no public statement about it
How many like him I wondered
Who take an injury but keep quiet for the real fear of ostracizstion
And who can blame him
Or them?
You’d have to be dumb and have big ideals to raise your voice
But the price of not doing it is intense as well
Putting aspects of you on pause for years
You can’t stop time
And they sell artifacts that represent like it’s 1973
All over 47th street til this day
There was a Lamborghini on the street I took a snap of it before hitting the train
It reminded me of the shadow of crypto in this old school market place
47th street like an NFT marketplace before NFT’s
Same energy of negotiation and regret
Same vibe of looming money and loss.
When you speak you may lose much
But what you’ll gain is the ability
To speak your mind whenever and wherever
As opposed to being stuffed in a suitcase of silence suffocating the expansion of your self
Into the bosom of the universe
The deal is
You except the losses for allowing your voice to shine
Or you become small and fragmented
Leaving yourself broken and falling behind
And honestly whatever you decide is a valid choice
And I can’t fault anyone
And don’t fault anyone for whatever they decide
I’ve certainly chosen to prioritize my freedom
Selling watches on 47 the street.