down for the count in poetry

Counting on something big and
amazing happening soon to
balance this all out is almost as
self-destructive as assuming
the bad times will ceaselessly roll.
All we can do is take control
of what’s in front of us and
fall into neither despair nor delusion.
Demanding the best case scenario
refusing anything less
is the truest way to guarantee
the worst case scenario.
Work your ass off for the
best thing reasonably possible
today then wake up tomorrow and
do the same again and again.
That’s actual material progress,
not just self-aggrandizing dreams.
Shooting for the moon so often ends
in a silent chorus of suffocated screams.
Cloud bursting confuses correlation with causation.
Naive enthusiasm reigns but quickly loses steam.
Go out there and move a cup of water by yourself
over time, we’ll move the ocean as a team.