blood suckers

yesterday, my legs were under attack from mosquitoes. my legs, from the knees down are now covered in mosquito bites. blood suckers. this is the price i pay for wearing shorts in a park outdoors. don't seem like much of a crime, but i've felt the punishment of blood sucking for a lot less in life and in many more painful forms. blood sucking is nothing new. i add the mosquitoes to a long list of every other blood sucker i have to deal with on a daily basis.

my government sucks my blood through my wallet. they take my taxes and spend it on things i don't want. they use my money to feed a war machine that i'm ashamed of. when i hear of missile attacks in foreign lands, or military operations that leave dead women and children in its wake, i know that i helped pay for that. i didn't want it but i got it. it's all mine. i am the unwilling owner of bloodshed and misery.

my job sucks my blood through my soul. my job is not the land of dreams. no one wished on a star to make it here. this is a place where people go when they're able to carve out a decent living if they're willing to put their passion aside. at least i'm still aware of this. i'm surrounded by drones who are brainwashed on wishy-washy corporate philosophy. empty words to help fill their empty souls. i'm not alone. it's not just my job, it's many jobs. it's a soul sucking job pandemic. we're told to be grateful for what we have as our souls bleed red onto the keyboards we maniacally clang away at all day.

large corporations swing gigantic axes too large for me to dodge. when the swipes come my way, i brace myself and walk it off. they swipe at my mind that they try to melt with an all out brain numbing, advertising assault. there's no cover, no protection, no shielding available. i am under a constant bombardment of companies telling me what's good for me and bullying me into a lifestyle i'm too hypnotized to realize i'm not interested in.

salesmen, politicians, and religious figures scream at me from hoisted pedestals. i figure anyone who can speak from that on high must know what they're talking about. their elegant deceit robs me of confidence in my own ideas. they cut deep into my psyche until i am left with no choice but to trade in my free thinking for their rigid salvation.

certain friends, family, and acquaintances borrow my blood in hopes that when it's my turn and i'm in need of blood, they'll be there to pay the favor right back. i don't mind giving you my blood but sometimes i get the feeling that i'm being taken for more than i'll ever be given. sometimes they need a lot more blood than seems necessary. sometimes i'm in need, and when i look around, some of the people who've taken the most in the bond of love and trust are no where to be found.

blood suckers come in many forms and are always on the attack. from the moment i was born, forces outside of my immediate existence have been after my blood. they'll chase my blood till it's all said and done. when i expire, they'll demand my debts, that i died to get out of, be paid in blood. they'll storm my funeral and shakedown my loved ones. they'll demand blood, anyone's blood. the blood suckers will never surrender.

and it serves me right, because in the end, i was a blood sucker too.