7 000 000 000
7,000,000,000
People make the world
but there are too many people for the world.
Every piece of Earth
cracks and trickles off as the grime from our hands
rub carelessly
forming engravings
of a once green world now sickly dark
its puzzle pieces disassemble one by one.
1 0 2 4 2 8
102,428
Too little money
everyone else has more.
Money will buy happiness and friends
so you need to be a doctor for a prosperous future.
Materials are bought to blend in with the crowd
sitting mindlessly on a desk
to display false wealth
so no questions are asked.
1 4 7
147
Too heavy
lose weight.
Golden skin becomes creamy pale
dark purple bags form under caramel eyes
icy callouses grip flesh layered over ribs
ripping until ridged bones mold the sheath.
8 7
87
Not smart enough
study harder.
Colleges won’t accept you
just do better
toothless smiles turn to chapped frowns
light dimming from the eyes of youth
isolation becomes a world of safety
where the obsidian awaits.
3 1
31
No time to chase dreams
you’re an adult.
Conform to society
taking upon a job and a spouse
push the dreams the ambitious child once had away
and stay home to raise kids
without grasping life
and discovering the unknowns of the world.
7
After death
brain activity occurs.
Only minutes for the brain
to replay the finest moments
the memories that are forgotten at the start of life
and remembered at the end
the child with a missing tooth grinning
then light engulfing everything in its path.

1
Person.
You.
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
People around you
wanting to see you conform to society.
2 3 4  5 6 7 8 9
People around you
giving wrong answers
watching you fail
hoping to see you deteriorate.
0
People around you
wanting to see you conform to society
giving wrong answers
watching you fail
hoping to see you deteriorate;

that matter.

7,000,000,000 people.
147 pounds.
87% on a test.
31 years old.
7 minutes.
1 person.
You.