You stand there
Self-righteous to the point of arrogance.
Uncaring, unbiased
And totally arbitrary in your proclamation
That the whole world is unconditionally
Stupid.
And I realize just how far we
As a generation,
A nation,
And a world
Have to go.

Because we bumptiously proclaim
That we should not have to conform.
And yet we bend
To the point of breaking
Simply so that we don’t
Push our society’s conformative limits.

Because as we turn
To our TV’s
Our video games, and our junk food,
We bow to the gods
And goddesses
Of sports.

Because after our leaders point
To the acid-streaked trees and soot-choked people
And say “This, is the problem”
They board their private jets,
And fly back to their oil giants
So that they can ask for more money.

And here you turn
Back to your ideals,
Your idols.
You do not care what other people
Think or do
The world is not your problem
And I am, obviously,
Stupid.

You leave me here.
Wondering,
Why we lionize the unreachable,
Instead of realizing that our idols are only human.
Why we conform to superficialities
Instead of our ideals.
And wondering
Why we never seem to
Realize
As a generation,
A nation,
And a world,
That other people’s problems
Are invariably, and unconditionally,
Ours.