there is always a price to pay
even when you hate capitalism
for example, the alarm clock
knowing time and dates others
force upon us all and casting
them aside to move as you might
waking not at the tick set but
when your imagination happens
to raise you from your bed
even the turning of the world
and meaningless sun or moon;
   what does it matter
when you are free of the burden
others used to shackle you
but no more, you show up
when you do at the dentist
office free from day or night
expecting nothing from anyone
with a toothache while no one
is a night owl but the janitor
who is emptying bags of spit
drooled out of people earlier
surely there must be a store
with someone selling aspirin

i hear news stories
every day and read
broadly as far as i can
remember what shapes me
into repeatable blocks
built up over time true
or false doesn't matter
when you know it's a story
told by others, accepted
by so many who repeat
blocks of things we built
for purposes and often
for aggrandizing blocks
carved into self statues
as public demonstrations
   of desire or need
but nothing like truth

it's easy listening, but
sometimes when the obvious
contour of blocks shows
   the shapes within
hearing shapes matters most