Rubén Sebastián Muñiz | ∞

No matter where the scene on movies or TV
when people first meet they do a lot to be discreet,
but something interesting unfolds – no matter where they’ll be –
It’s a name and a job title next to them on the screen.
Most common in documentaries, reality, and talk shows,
and anywhere media-based that includes a first impression.
Our appearance is judged hardest, but doesn’t need a description,
So ones name and job title appears, adding to how the world sees them beyond their mirror’s reflection.

Is it an echo of real life meeting and dating, or is the tail wagging the dog when it comes to that first chat?
Do we all really put such importance on the work of others, or does the media prompt us to do just that?
A close neighbor in importance is age, but since jobs are more tied to wealth and ‘status,’ or a lack of;
society suggests that more money means you’re just ‘better’ than others, more deserving of prosperity and expensive backrubs.

So when I’m watching a show or something and I see someone’s job title,
I’m going to either find out that this information is vital,
Or once again find that materialism shines,
a drug humanity always seems to find. – RSM

“Back in the day… Chi City, 2024…”

It was all a dream – more like a legion of nightmares
kicking me while I was already down in tandem, it wasn’t random,
it felt pointed, specific, these bad dreams were so good at their job they probably had a fandom.

If my life and health was a city, it would have looked like the South Bronx in the 60s & 70s
as each ever-waking night I lay trapped, with no remedies,
but as time went on they started leaving me alone, their origins still a mystery,
But I fought back, swore them all to hell, tried to throw them into the dust bin of my life’s history.

They would sometimes pop out of the ground of my memories after
and dance around in my head like the zombies from Thriller,
But they created a monster – me – worse than a violent drunk who just drank a fifth of Hennessy.

In order to survive the nastiest tricks of my own mind,
facing the most gruesome nightmares I’ve seen in my life,
I did what I do best – I went from negative to positive, creating growth out of strife,
Catharsis out of frustration, prioritizing more kinds of rest after rough battles with sleep deprivation.

For weeks I woke up yelling, was afraid to sleep, or went to bed in tears,
but when I had gotten through it all, I didn’t realize I had shed all traces of fear.
My own nightmares can’t even touch me now.
They’re cowering in a corner of my psyche somewhere, wondering how
the guy they had pinned down like Neo vs. 100 Mr. Smiths
ended up turning the tables cuz he was so tired of their shit.

They’ve created a monster, scarier than anything they ever threw at me in the middle of the night.
I lost battles to my nightmares, but I won the war. I’m fearless now, thanks to them, and I’m sleeping alright.
It’s not a fair fight the next time me and a nightmare might meet –
Next time I see a bad dream walking toward me I’m telling that motherfucker to cross the street. – RSM

With every action our lives and the lives of those around us ripple into each other,
like raindrops landing onto a pond.
The overlap between us can be slim, vast, or somewhere in between; our intentions guide our actions, our peers will judge us as right or wrong.

The tennis game between ourselves and our karma produces the trails of life that we blaze.
When we fall into quicksand along our journey, and need someone to help us climb out,
our fear, ego, and self doubt are what we must leave behind in the sand, so that only our focus, humility, and confidence remains.
Accepting help when we need it can bring back light to to our dark days.

Pride can be as angry as it can be silly,
refusing help can lead to bigger raindrop ripples of suffering,
Kinda like rage quitting and destroying your whole game console
just because it’s internet connection was buffering,
Or not asking for help, even when you know it’s needed
and left in shame as the one who got all the warnings, but did not need them.

Turning a corner is never pretty.
Working hard to overcome setbacks can feel anything but uplifting.
Sifting through the curveballs, surprise walls, and unexpectedly bad weather
is what separates a version of our lives that could be better
from the version that comes when we face a challenge, and stand down – rise to it, don’t stay settled. – RSM

“Hmm, well, from what I’ve seen as an ‘outsider’ to the conflict -“
Wait, but at this point, how could you be? Hundreds of thousands slaughtered, didn’t that make you sick?
Make you feel? Give you chills? Make you angry? Make you sad? Still have any respect for the IDF?

“Here’s the thing, they’re just defending their land,” Yeah, that they systematically stole from Palestine and keep stealing,
Shooting Palestinians for nothing, the IDF has lost their humanity and feelings,
Starting with the trigger finger and all the way throughout
But no amount of that krav maga discipline will drown-
out the screams of the civilians you killed for ‘your country,’
look around, even Israelis are protesting, they don’t want this!

“But Hamas are terrorists! They did October 7th – ” Yes, another milestone in the conflict that goes back way before every one of us were here –
Thousands of years past, and one party will still blame the other for each of their latest attacks,
but what Israel hates is when people tell the truth:

For the last 77 years Palestine has been fighting with both hands tied behind its back.
No legal army permitted, yet Israel continues to bomb them.
Other countries come to provide Palestine aid, yet Israel cuts it off, continues to bomb them.
Israel loses track of hostages, even kills some in friendly fire, yet Israel continues to bomb them.

Ever since the Nakba, historic erasure has been a thing,
All the way from the end of World War II through the Arab Spring;
Israel has pummeled Palestine, taken it’s land with impunity,
How sad for a country to behave this way towards it’s neighbors, since right after the defeat of Nazi Germany. – RSM

The Chi got a lot colder a lot quicker this fall,
An orange tsunami of fear and xenophobia hovered over us all.
You smelled their dirty facemasks miles away
trying to cover up while committing crimes day to day –

Cowards.

With the law on your side you’re invincible, huh?

Cowards.

Play Batman all you want with your work buddies, it’s not gonna add up…
Descending on entire buildings of people unprotected, unexpected, allegedly “looking for criminals, undocumented,”
Everyone knows the real intent is to implement a culture of fear to the ones who give our ‘president’ jeers –

Raid a building in Chicago to flex his fragile ego,
Nevermind the lives affected, interrupted,
It’s 8 months into this term, so here we-go,
This ride will get rockier, more innocent black and brown people to be intentionally disrupted.

You’re a fool for joining, no matter what the upfront signing bonus was for you;
Sure, 50K means a lot to anyone all at once,
but it takes a real racist psychopath to do this for ‘fun’,
I’m sure there’s a lot more than one in the ranks
Who fantasizes about ‘othering’ humans, and using violence, guns, bombs, tanks;

But you’re so far gone on the wrong side of history
and your descendants will remember YOU, and all your colleagues’ activities
as some of the corniest, stupidest, and most easily manipulated GOONS,
of a ‘leader’ and a country obsessed with constantly pulling a Cheddar Bob – it’s not too late to get a different job, dude!

Until the ‘American Nuremberg’ trials start one day, in a just, near future that will come to pass,
enjoy reminiscing about having your own humanity, and being Class Traitors Plus™️ while it lasts. – RSM

Each time I blink it feels like a few minutes go by.
It adds up – I feel heavy af every morning and I wish I knew why,
Fast forwarding reality by blinking – an uncontrollable reflex
while contemplating ways it pays to stay awake, trying to not blink my waking life away, I re-flect:

“Wait. Maybe I’m not losing time, but just leaking minutes?”
It’s the morning; I’m done traversing different dream scapes and visiting a city on another planet that’s kinda like Venice.
Time’s a menace. A few more blinks, a few more hundred seconds.
At this point just I’m sleeping in, making the outside world jealous.

The hardest part of the day is the first thing to do,
getting out of bed heals this blinking-based time warp, finally starting my day and closing out the loop. – RSM