Powerland

Conformity is the hardest word to agree upon. We breathe the air where normalcy dictates happiness. We look inside the box where happiness equates contentment. We touch success where money, position and social status bequeaths respect.

Boxes are purposely shaped that way to keep something in it. I am in that box and it sure is air tight in here. I can't breathe. It is dark. It is suffocating. When you have a boring desk job good enough to sustain a young family, I have to be in this box.

I have this kingdom for a box:
a) A baroness is so inept at her job the she is clueless on how a her transcripts on a kingdom visit is supposed to look like. How is this for a report "We went to Leytedom early in the morning. We saw the beautiful sunrise as we are near the port of Leytedom." How's that for a start!@! I will spare you the rest of that crap where she describes her whole trip that proves that she is no smarter than a 5th grader.

b) That same baroness has a tax collector for a husband who is also the one computing their own taxes. Guess what? Even if they are living lavishly, complete with big stables, a large throne, they pay equal tax to peasants livinh under the bridges and have breadcrumbs and leftovers to live off to. To top that off, she is the head of the whole fiasco, the taxation department. How is that for convenience?

c) A baron is the model of promptness. He comes in at 8 am sharp, after 2 to 3 hours, wanders off to neverneverwhere - be it courtland, or educland, or paradise, wherever, returns just five minutes before 5 pm and convenes an all important daily afternoon meeting (it is termed a seminar nowadays due to the agonizing length). They call this practice moonlighting, by the way.

d) That same baron speaks in volumes of doing the right things, of meeting the minds, and of valued principles and unshattered integrity only to be exposed as pure hypocrisy by his on the side arrangements with shrewd bandits who thin the people's money with shady deals and substandard food supplies. The great irony in all that is that he is a man of God.

e) A prince who is lately being purposedly left off of afterhours drinking sessions raves leaps and bounds of his efforts and intentions to fight off all wrongdoing, improve the kingdom all for the greater glory of the constituents (seems like a campaign platform, right???) is a well known schemer with former corrupt tax colelctors and erstwhile abusive militia men.

f) This prince was allegedly involved in the underreading of his tax in the kingdom which he oversees. He was also allegedly pushing for new bow and arrows which his cohorts sponsor. At the lowest blow, he was also allegedly involved in the pushing of dried leaves as the new uniforms for the guards. See, these are all allegations. Nothing more.

g) On top of all of these royalty is a rather methodical queen. She seems to be the fairest of all with a the high heavens above as her magic mirror. The queen is a giving generous ruler who blooms with appreciative gratitude and unrelentful compliment, has double edged parsel tongue that says pleasantries on the onset and the exact opposite on the backhand. Her rule is marked by kingdom expansion, better food subsidies masks the shady contracts with nearby kingdoms, the placement of questionable taskmasters, and several other self serving decrees.

This is the kingdom I live in. A vile and corrupt rule that has consumed the real and pure essence of a community. When you are a young visionary with nothing but aspirations of a better life, that dream may instantly be turned into an illusion by pretentious concern, compromised principles, brilliant stupidity and shimmering greed for money and power. And you can only hope that someone just shakes that box and you miraculously fall off without a scratch and a label.