The derivative of a quadratic is linear, but the derivative of an exponential, is exponential.

What makes life so desperate that it makes "art"?

What makes life so desperate
we forget to make it art?
Maybe habit.
Maybe we were on the
clock too long.
Maybe we were too
cold, too hungry,
to notice anything,
for too long.
Maybe the kids
sitting in the tub
thinking, "only I exist",
are all born into the wrong family,
and have to adapt.
Maybe the traffic drowns it out.
Maybe it is the endless misunderstandings
that keep us from learning
language.

Maybe it is the instinct to only pay back
harm, even if only to ourselves.
Maybe if one thing eats, all things eat.

Maybe no one encourages us (no one has the guts).

Maybe we are not supposed to -
Maybe we are supposed to work like animals
until we die, a "waste" of art,
and otherwise,
a waste of time.