know that there are times in life

where the highest form of victory

is in giving up

waving the white flag in total surrender

know that there are times in life

where giving up is victory

perhaps those times include

when we give up the fight 

to be something we’re not

to feel something we don’t

to swim upstream,

in the river of our hearts.

how many times

has an epiphany come 

only when you stepped away 

from the drawing board

and threw the towel in?

flashes of lightning 

daydreaming idly 

on some lazy cloud 

of consciousness?

how often have you struggled

to recollect a tidbit

whose distance in your mind

is proportionate 

to your efforts of grasping it?

how often 

has it suddenly appeared 

only when you gave up finding it?

what potency exists 

in accepting our impotence!

the only omnipotent among us

are those who exist

in complete surrender

and blissful forfeiture

the only ones 

with any semblance of reign 

are those with their hands

tied behind their backs,

barely containing a smirk.

the only ones who know,

are those who accept they’re clueless.

…

oh,

and all the same,

surrender to nothing

fight with all you have each and every day

for a life lived without war

war for a chosen cause

that gives one’s life effect

is not a life at all.

out of the lazy river!

out!

it’s doused your flame.

howl at the moon

and beat your chest

before your youthful primacy 

bids thee farewell.

…

there are times

when sleep is for the weak

and there are times

to sleep for a week

…

do you not see how both are true?

this is Mercury —

to live a life constantly at war 

without ever lifting a finger of effort

to never give up trying 

and to give up on trying

at once