| I AM MY OWN MACHINE I was sad again today and the people just told me not be be As if my emotions could be turned off and on like a switch & I refused to participate in their oblivious cat and mouse game Then they'd get angry and I would tell them not to be & I realized---they don't have a switch either They acted like it was my fault I was feeling this way They acted like I was selfish...they acted, I didn't They pushed buttons like I was just a machine A machine with a witty "insert emotion here" sign But I won't be bribed so easily---I am my own machine They requested happiness & I requested solitude & Then they went on pretending to know what's best for me Like one feeling is more valuable than the others But what if this wheel was upside down? & pain was the brand new joy? Would they shove hurt into my crooked grin? Well maybe the wheel should turn both ways Just the way my laundry service heart does It washes away my love and dries it clean & Maybe it's just a machine---but it's my machine So maybe the wheel should just stop turning If it's just a train going only one way & When it's just one course, it's supposed be okay But the passengers are unaware of the danger That the wheel could one day turn the other way & That cult-like line would drive straight into itself Two toys merging into one solid sphere Where the circuits of human nature aren't all one shade & When red is racing, blue is yielding & My voice is not a broadcast---I am my own machine (November 4, 2003) Eric James, copyright |