The institution solution

I’ve been institutionalized.
My eyes have fallen from the sky 
And my esteem is doomed to never rise. 

My future is only fictions of the unseen or what I can see a nightly dream, 
I’m a tarnished star that was never destined to gleam. 
Since the day of my birth, my fate was scripted on this earth, 
To follow the path of many before me and eventually lose my self-worth. 
I had to follow a plan, step-by-step that was created by the man. 
Each step was excruciating as he lent me no hand. 
But as I climbed my way to the top, 
I kept good spirits as the masses encouraged me not to stop. 
Because as explained, once there, the sky’s the limit, 
But my enthusiastic mind has turned timid. 

I’ve been institutionalized.
My eyes have fallen from the sky 
And my esteem is doomed to never rise. 

Because in this plan I’ve become entangled with the man
And I’ve lost my hands. 
They’re tied behind my back 
As I borrow my future, never to get it back. 
And using all my good will to serve the institution, 
For the institution
And by the institution. 
I guess you can call it something like prostitution. 
Institution of course being the pimp,
Me the pimpee, employee, and forever the payee. 

And so, in the vision of my sorrowed eyes
I cannot reach beyond the horizon where the land meets the sky. 
Following this yellow brick road to the man so he can answer my question, 
My heart reeks in despair as I submit this confession...

That I’ve been institutionalized.
My eyes have fallen from the sky 
And my esteem is doomed to never rise.

(Circa 2009)