I am required to resist the distractions and the easy wine 
that facilitates the annihilation of the other 
              and their daily bread

To resist dabbling in the spoils, especially 
because the world has been hard. 
To do away with the thought 
              that somehow I am owed

To carry the weight in everything we do, 
that there is nothing left to normalize 
and we have given up any right to peace 
and contentment every time we pay the tax 
that allows for our lives, 
our own lives to consider 
              only our own lives