The Stuff That I'm Made of (is falling apart)

Have you ever read the definition
of the word temptation?

How weary it is that we are
forced to live
by the carrot and the stick

and we know we are like tokens
on someone else's gameboard.

In the end, we are not the ones
who will live forever.
That honor
will go to our betters

and yet we have no choice, we must play.

Steal what you can of happiness and of love!
Time is short, all purpose is confusing,
because it is not your own.

Knowing the score
can certainly
stifle enthusiasm,

but still
you've got to show them
what you're made of