Fair, unfair

I spent an hour
Today, blessed by 
A girl (or more accurately,
A woman)
Who made my everyday reprise
Of wantonness, and of regret
A breeze 

That blew adrift
The seed that carries change
And that should turn the rare, rare flower
Into reality
That then stopped
The tiresome, selfish monotony
Of "Everything is wrong;"
And, "How could this be?"

She paused me -- gently
And severely,
With a spirit pure, and young
Beyond her years -- reminded
Me that fair and unfair
Are just words;
Not how things are.

A miracle
Which jostles you
Out of your older, time-worn ways
Into the liberation
Of the concept that
The world does not revolve
Around a guilt-inspired system
Of entitlement
And of peremptory penance.

We are led, too young, to believe
That life unfolds a certain
Way that has to do
With meritocracy
And with an elusive, karmic light
Surrounding everything we do
And everything we say,
And if we "work real hard,"
And "do the true, right thing,"
We will be sure to reap
Rewards incalculably.

But this is wrong.

You see, the key to
Living your life happily
Or even getting close
To that is not to base your worth
Upon the "right" and "wrong"
Or "fair;" unfair, it's just a tie
That binds you to
The version of a life that bleeds
While who you are
Sits patiently
Awaiting your consent
And your consignment.

Life -- it IS. It's simple.
Trust me; when you spend a single
Second giving in to what they say
You should be, you 
Have wasted all the beauty
Of what IS. Without regret,
Without the motivation
Of the guilt, the pain, the recompense
You have been told, since birth, you will deserve,
Your life, it happens!

While you try to force it
To make sense.