Brian’sPoems

The Market Mindset

...undermines everything.

So there you are, sitting
alone in a chain coffee shop,
bored by the same old apps
you’ve started neglecting
on your costly smartphone,
when out of thin air
a big idea comes to mind.

Your first instinct is to find a lawyer
who will protect your idea with patents
and introduce you to venture capitalists
who will ensure you find a market.

The plan works!
You make millions,
perhaps even billions.
Pundits call you a genius
(even though you repeated
second grade twice).

People,
houses, cars, jets,
power and private islands
- you purchase them all
to reinforce your myth.

But gosh darn it,
you’re still bored!

No one warned you
a privileged life would be
too small and too unfulfilling,
too much everything you pined
to escape in the first place.
So now you pivot,
borrow more money
for a brand new company
that will build rocket ships
to send tourists into space.

All the while you’re doubting,
yet still hopeful a new frontier
will give you needed perspective,
along with the coveted peace of mind
seemingly within your grasp,
but forever just out of reach.

If outer space doesn’t work,
then what’s next?