Paper Tiger

There's a million stories in the naked city
Some evoke anger and some evoke pity
Life is so ugly and life is so pretty

We all have our parts that we play
In making the world spin day to day
Some people move in and some people move away

Many of us like to tell tall tales
Embellish when we win and hide when we fail
Until someone grabs the paper tiger by the tail

I like to pretend that I don’t follow orders
But I don’t have the stomach for anarchy and disorder
I’m a card carrying member of laziness without borders

I can't sing and I can't play guitar
Nobody says to me, my boy you'll go far
But that doesn't stop me from dreaming of being a star

I've always said that I want to write songs
But I never make it very far along
It's like i'm on the Gong Show and the world is banging the Gong.

My ambition is a castle surrounded by a moat
Full of creatures that want to rip out my throat
It takes all my energy just to stay afloat

If you were to ask me what I know for sure
I'd tell you that success is really a whore
It's not easy to find it while keeping yourself pure

I'm a paper tiger toiling in obscurity
I want to make it big but maintain my purity
Sloth is my enemy I can't make it hurriedly

One day perhaps we can all take the plunge
Shake off procrastination and finally expunge
Our fears and soak up life like it's water and we are the sponge

All I can do is hope that one day
I'll shake off my fear and do it my way
Only then will the paper tiger go away.

---

Images from Pixabay.com

My name is Scott. I write and create. Please follow for more. I always follow back. :) You can find my book of poetry, We Own the Sunset -- We Own the Sky on Amazon.