By Rajan George
If you lose your worth and self-esteem
and wake each day to others’ dictates—
a slave stripped bare of freedom’s power—
you’re nothing but a brainwashed tool.
You may never fully shake
the wild untruths you once absorbed,
indoctrinated by those who sought
to use your life to serve their ends.
Indoctrination starts so young—
in classrooms and in family circles,
where handed-down, inherited folly
clings like dust from years ago.
They know not freedom nor its strength;
their minds are chained to groupthink still.
The swamp they tread is all they trust—
a sunless place of loss and stagnant will.
Those who carved across your mind
commands you dare not disobey
will see to it you’re cast aside
if you should fail their schemes one day.
A spongy spine will never hold,
though for a time it seems enough;
but when the rising tide demands,
you’ll crumble for want of a spine that’s tough.
Remember—your mind is a waiting canvas.
If you let others paint their image there,
they’ll claim your soul as their possession—
but it is yours if your own truth appears.
So close the door to every thief;
choose for yourself the path you take.
Let wisdom rule and folly fade—
stand firm, awake, unshaken, whole.
And never, ever be brainwashed.
219 words, 1 minute read time.
