Staring at an empty pitcher when you're a thirsty crow

Or expecting harvest when there are no seeds to sow

Imagining, eating a freshly baked loaf of bread

While not having money to even buy a piece of thread

Expecting an 'A' when you skipped the exam

Or expecting an investment return from a scam

Praying that money falls into your pouch

While you haven't even left the couch

Being a hero on screen or as they say, in reel life

But not having done any charity in real life

Do you see where I'm reaching for?

Vicarious life is not worth fighting for!

i've learned to be

intangible

my actions are not my own.

i am merely a parent,

projecting their successes onto an infant

as it takes its first steps

into the unknown

and then getting angry

when it

moves away from me

into something else entirely.

once, i would have attempted

to grab it as it fled

fingers closing around a tattered sheath

of youth

and pulling it away to reveal

the monster it hides beneath.

a monster that looks a little too much like me.

once, i would have fought,

but today i can no longer see myself in my eyes,

today i can no longer feign my surprise

when my body

gets up

and walks away

leaving me on the bedroom floor

for someone easier to adore,

and I unwind:

out of touch.

out of sight.

out of mind.

I saw a video recently in which the creator

claimed that all life is television;

merely watching the actions of others

This inspired me to try to lead my life differently

except all it got me is into more socially prestigious groups;

still listening, never talking.

In a sense, all life is lived through others,

at least it is for those watchers like me;

making friends based upon an ability to react.

But it's a hilarious life and a fun one.

Through writing here and elsewhere, I share my voice.

In the meantime I titter and fritter away my time.

A life lived through others is worth fighting for because over time,

after being pummeled and moved by the whims of others,

you will feel an urge to find your inner strengths.

A rockstar's gimmick, the painting of an artist, the celebrations of the champions and a writers prose, we live through all of them, for the love of life and in search of hope. One must appreciate the living legends but keep going to create something of their own. We can dream, cheer and feel the ultimate joy in the blue shades of vicarious life but must not get lost in someones story like a lonely boat in the unyielding wilderness of the sea. As long as we keep it real, to be hopeful, anything goes.