Mathematics,
pure and simple logic.
Life isn’t some huge generalization,
it’s a million little equations all operating
in terms of changes in variables.
Simple men claim you can’t figure life out,
I say you can get it down to a science.
Simple men claim people get irrationally insulted,
I wonder why you offend their sensibilities.
Simple men observe stereotyping and assume bigotry,
I plan to operate on my experiences.
A simple man compares life to a novel,
it’s more of a riddle to me,
one of those riddles about ropes and
delayed suicide,
or about why a man who ate fish was
shot twenty minutes later,
or about Russian roulette
and murder victims,
especially since, like life, they all end in death,
but if you focus on that, you miss the point of the riddle.
A simple man would give you answers,
I can only offer my explanations.
A simple man asks why,
I ask how.
A simple man dismisses,
and so do I,
but a simple man gives an easy
let down so as to avoid accusations of elitism
whereas I embrace superiority and reject populism.
A simple man attempts to fault common sense
and all I see is a man trying to erase the efforts of time and nature.
Hypocrisy is the master of the simple man,
with his ears open and his eyes open and
his mouth blocking out sound and his hands
held so close to his face he can’t see a thing,
and cold math is my only idol.
Twist religion,
distort the past,
cheer on disaster,
distance yourself from your land of residence
and the home of your friends, family, and significant other,
take from the most valuable among us to give to the most disposable,
deny the virtue of the lifestyle
that affords you a color TV and central air,
grow fat, old, angry, but altogether removed
and watch me,
the one who aspires toward everything you hate
do more for things you claim to hold dear than you could imagine
one can do and still have disposable income left over.
Reject the value of inequality and you homogenize the population.
Fight fascists and traditionalism with neo-fascism and a new tradition.
You’re but a simple man;
you know only the bounds of your own ideology.
I’m simply a man;
I know only what the numbers and my sensibilities tell me.
