is this the life?

I’m struggling

sweat runs down my forehead

stress builds in my body

I’m trying to survive

“this is the life, trying to survive, can you look into my eyes?”


the more I work

the more the government takes

I’m stuck in a gridlock

I’m not rich

I’m only a CNA

and I have three roommates

I can’t live on my own

“this is the life, trying to survive, can you look into my eyes?”


the more I work the more I’m taxed

I lost eight hundred dollars to taxes this paycheck

after rent, medicine, and fuel I have three hundred left for food

all hopes and plans dashed for the month

another month another fight for survival

I’m living paycheck to paycheck

I desperately look for new opportunities on the weekends

I can’t afford college

“this is the life, trying to survive, can you look into my eyes?”


the multimillionaires and the bankers monopolize the media

I watch them get tax breaks and bonuses

as I sweat

as my poor heart races

as I try to survive

and I’m not the only one

I ask them to look into our eyes


we can all see the off shore accounts and money laundering

why do we allow them to get away with it?

the common person suffers and the rich swell their pockets

will we accept that this is the world we’re living in?

will we all keep living for a few dollars more?

is this the life?