“I shall not should on myself”

 

Should is a funny little word

It sometimes annoys

Much like a thorn in your side

Much like an enemy’s sword

 

Should is that voice

Of the sum of all your school masters

You can’t

You shan’t

You Should

 

Blah-blah-blah

Was all we heard

Blah-blah-blah

When they treated us all as cattle in a herd

 

Should is a box

A box full of should

Oh my,should will never cause you to soar

Should will never cause you to fly

You’ll never do what your heart wants

You’ll never see what your future holds in store

 

Your parents said you should

Your ancestors said it to your parents

Should was that first pointed finger you saw

Pointed right in your face

When you played in the sand box

And balanced on the teeter-totter

 

Then off to school you went

to errrr, hmmmm, ahem

supposedly to get edjamacated

And your teachers saw your test scores

And they sad,” Be a doctor, lawyer,and an Indian chief.”

Low test scores only meant one thing:

You’d be sent to the fields,factories or houses of slaughter.

 

Should is that pesky voice inside our heads

We heard it in our college years

There went the dreaming we did as a child

Our dreams soon were replaced by lies,doubt and fears

In college,should soon became our master

If you’re lucky enough to have by-passed college

You still hear,”You shoulda gone to college to make money faster.”

 

Try not to become that voice

Should looks for that vehicle

It wants to use you

To bind others up

 

Free yourself from should

How? You maybe asking

Tell it to hush

By living your dreams

Following your heart

No matter how loud should screams

Don’t pay it no mind

Should shuts the hell up

When you follow your heart

Should shuts the hell up

When you’re 100% YOU

Should hates it when

You embrace your own destiny

And forge your own path

 

Now, repeat after me,” I SHALL NOT SHOULD ON MYSELF!”

-EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2013