Rat Race

“It takes a rat to win a rat race.” - TA

I watch the people around me. I listen and take mental notes. I am an astute observer of human behavior including my own. Sometimes I don’t take my own advice. I fail. My life has been one of burned villages and fire-filled nights. Smoldering dawn. Toppled down. I am a broken human trying to find reason in all things.

Periodically, I hear words of bitterness and jealousy, pointed in my direction. I have no Teflon coating. It all sticks. I will carry on. The rat race is more than the mindless pursuit of money, prestige and things. It is a dark highway of suffering. All asphalt. No exits.

Rats come in all forms. Some are skate rats like the guys in the photographs. Real skateboarders. Pure and untainted. But then there are the little rats. These are devious. Weakness. They scurry and rub their noses into everyone’s business. Furtive and slinking, these rats cower in the dark and whisper among themselves. In their own small world, it empowers them. Mighty. They bristle on stunted legs. Tiny mouths squeak at the world, “What about me? No one is looking at me!” The rat trap closes.

Thanks to MRZ for the images. Skate-Ozzie