conventional wisdom in poetry

The glass is not empty.
The glass is full of air.
LEARN TO DRINK AIR.

A million monkeys on a million typewriters
given enough time will accidentally write
the lifetime works of William Shakespeare.
START TO COLLECT MONKEYS AND TYPEWRITERS.

A penny saved is a penny earned.
But if you want to make dollars
learn to rip off little old ladies
with fake stock tips and overpriced cosmetics.
PENNIES ARE EARNED, MILLIONS ARE STOLEN.

Yes, the early bird gets the worm.
But if you want to eat steak instead
learn to ruin gullible lives
as a cable news talking head.
But if you don’t learn how to be awful,
ENJOY YOUR WORM FEASTS AND GLASSES OF AIR.

Unless.
Unless you choose to change how the world works.
Toss out the old used up axioms.
Pulp up the parables.
Stop trying to be good at this life
and instead try to just be good.
TRY TO JUST BE GOOD.

Because
no good deed goes unpunished
but that’s not the nature of the universe
or anyway that’s not what it has to be
they’ve rigged it that way to divide us
to eat up the pie
while we kill each other for a crumb of the dry crust
but it doesn’t have to be
if we can replace conventional wisdom
with unconventional love.

It’s that
or learn to drink air.