–I saw the storm pass over
& the skyline littered with dreams.
I saw the best of my generation fall
& our metaphors recede.
–
I saw the grownups playing dirty
while the kids did cocaine.
“You only live once.”
–
YOLO.
No shame.
–
We are the children of the YOLO.
Father Time, we call f*ggot.
We don’t love life.
We grab it by the hair and shag it.
–
We take this shit with bravado:
straight, no chaser —
like a bullet to the brain.
We dubstep in the moonlight,
dropping the bass
like
drones
drop
bombs
on
kids.
–
“This is the Voice”
but it is the voice of global pain.
We saw how our elders play with lives.
–
Fuck that.
–
We’re just going to get fucked up again.
–
Our TVs are mini-coliseums
for us to watch our neighbors bleed.
This is the Third Commandment:
buy yourself some damn good weed.
–
All we have are First World problems
but they weigh on us just the same.
Third World problems are for missions trips,
We call them the Hunger Games.
–
I saw the storm pass over
& the skyline littered with dreams.
I saw the best of my generation fall
& our metaphors recede.
–
Jesus turned water into wine
but jack shit into Xanax.
Now we can’t go to church.
We’re so purpose driven,
we’re manic.
(We need Xanax.)
(Give us Barabbas.)
–
These drugs are gifts from God,
signs of the times.
–
We are a city on a hill,
our teeth stained with wine and we’re
doped out on meds to the point that
we shine our drugged smiles from coast to shining coast.
–
We can’t hide it under a bushel, no!
We are going to let it shine
and roast
because
We.
Can’t.
Fucking.
Stop.
–
I see us shake
& drop
& it’s Kumbaya, lord,
I wish I could feel again
& stop my skin from crawling.
It’s Kumbaya, lord,
I wish I could feel less.
All I see on Facebook
is people liking
this whole fucking mess
& somedays I just wish that
life had a link to log out.
Some days I wish I could
undo your caps lock
so you would whisper,
not shout.
–
(There are dull chainsaws
ripping up my stomach
like empathy on crack.)
–
I saw the storm pass over
& the skyline littered with dreams.
I saw the best of my generation fall
& our metaphors recede.
–
We are Generation LOL —
with 50 Shades of AMAs —
but Joshua got fired for harassment,
& Ruth is 16 and pregnant from rape.
–
Ruth is 16
& pregnant from rape.
–
Esther OD’ed.
Conversion didn’t take.
–
This, then, is how the world ends:
not with a bang,
neither with a whimper.
–
It ends with you puking
& me holding your hair
back from your face.
–
You had one too many cocktails
aptly named “Amazing Grace.”
–
I saw the storm pass over
& the skyline littered with dreams.
I saw the best of my generation fall
& our metaphors recede.
Thank you.
<3
Wow, that’s powerful. Have you been listening to a lot of hip hop lately? At first, I thought it was lyrics to a new song, the rythym and the raw bluntness of it made me think of hip hop.
Thanks, Sheldon! I do listen to a lot of hip hop. I also love slam poetry. I had the slam speaking cadence in mind while writing this.
I noticed you changed the name of the blog, I like it. 🙂
Glad ya like it! 🙂
So much pain here, so expressive and sadly, something that many can relate to. Keep writing, Ryan. I love your heart.
Thanks, JA. I love your heart, too!
I love this.
Thanks Jesse! Hope you’re doing well, buddy.