Apricot Press

Internal Reflections in the Rain

By Justin Johnson

Mother nature's favorite drum pattern
Is melodically tapping on my windshield
Sleep is begging for my presence
I can't hear it
The rain is getting louder
Becoming more up-tempo
The thunder rolls in with its cymbals
There's a shift in the air
I think I can grab it
I've been on a streak
Even got lightning calling me flashy

Naw
Really I'm a bully that's aggravated
Surrounded by people who want ornaments
Decorating how much of their life was fruitless
When all I want is to be an endless memory

I reach for my phone
An image crafted by Salvador Dali
Glares at me
In the middle of our stare off
Enlightenment strikes me
A prophet embodied as an artist
How did Dali manage to paint my future on his canvas
How he know I've been looking for salvation from this desert
All this sand in my shoe
I just want to break out and be barefoot
Let the grains burn the rest of this deadweight off
And run to the city waiting for me to etch my name in all its street signs

In a world where we're programmed to be told
Live off of minimum wage instead of being gold
I'll spill my soul on the record
Till my body reassembles chocolate dessert
Familiar flavor in your ear
Leave your grey matter a smear
Times I wish for this 
When everyone wasn't chasing hits
Making sounds out the microwave
World full of cowards I’ll stand and be brave
There's no other way to play this game
Be wild or die tame 
Smart enough to make a few bucks
But dumb enough to twist the rules for my own luck
The world is yours,
The world is yours,
The world is yours
Echo it enough times till it's embedded in my pores
Had a rough start but I'm so far from the finish
I can't let all my opportunities diminish
Operating at levels past their diagnostics
How quickly I've leveled up is astonishing
I'm in this relentless
Hard hitting with success
As my accomplice 
Watch what I have to accomplish

Photo credit: Clay LeConey