Performance Art

Original by Kenyetta Chinwe(Angela Y. Brown)

My performance art
Is my performance heart
Pretending to love this life I am living.

Acting like my nine-to-five
Is all that I need to keep me alive
While down inside my soul is dying.

Putting on the show
So folks won’t really know
That in reality I am a sellout.

I sold my hopes and dreams
For a loaf of bread and a pot of beans
And the comfort that comes with a weekly check.

But now that I’ve counted the cost
And surveyed what I have lost
I’m trying to figure out how to buy it back.

My performance art
Is my performance heart
Trying to convince myself I don’t miss the stage

That it’s alright to work for the man
As long as I get all you can
And “so what” if I end each night crying.

Mourning the loss of my creative fire
And all that burning desire
Now eats away at what’s left of my sanity.

Trying always to ignore
The pain bubbling deep within
And persuade myself that ambition is vanity.

But is it vanity to crave elevation
To want to climb out of your situation
And live a life where you can get paid for what you love to do?

Who said “I’d always have to work for somebody”
And never really get to be happy
Tell me does that seem fair to you?

My performance art
Is my performance heart
Putting on shows daily for the masses.

But this performer’s tired of this act
So I think I’ll pack my sack
And move on down the road to happiness.

Show’s over!