A Poet’s Qualm

We are tired. We are broken. We are almost out of gas.

Tired of spinning our wheels just to come in last. What race is it that we’ve decided to run?

The Human Race—where the winner is no one.

But, as long as there is air in my lungs

I will never stop striving to reach for the rungs

On this ladder I’m climbing while seeking success

Yet it seems that as I climb higher and higher the more clear it becomes that my life is a mess.

And not just mine;no!

I can see your house just as clearly from up here as I can see my own.

We are all a mess.

A nation of youth that will fight for the best

World we can dream of until our last breath

Or until we have nothing left.

And that might just happen one day if we keep undermining the words that each other has to say.

To be a part of society is to be a part of humanity

Me a part of you and you a part of me

That’s what we need. That’s what we seek—but at the same time we are too afraid to find what makes us unique.

Uniqueness is just as important as unity, because what is unique about you may just come to be something that could—eventually—save me.

Or hell, I might be the one saving you. If I could ever find the courage to find something to do, to hone my skills in something new, to let my real voice sing true.

Let my true colors bleed through.

I hope that my blood will stain,

Little pieces and parts of other people’s hearts and that one day they might all come together as if it were all meant to be—like a beautiful stained-glass window pane.

Wouldn’t that be insane?

Could that be something worth trying to refrain?

Could we do it over and over again?

It would be heart wrenching yet fulfilling, and I’m sure it would bring

Joy to the children who dance in the rain.

My child is one of those children.

Once upon a time I suppose I was too.

And so were you.

Hey! Maybe that’s what unites us?!

Clouds form that make it hard to see,

I descend this ladder because I know now that once upon a time you were just like me.

Just a child wide eyed filled with curiosity.

If we all went back to those days,

Where there was no better feeling than the suns warm rays,

And new friends to meet in every place,

We might just find a way to erase

All the hurt and the messes we’ve caused in this Human Race.