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» dear america...

tw:: shootings, depression/suicide, abuse, all that good gen z shit

dear america,

do you know the world we live in?

do you know the pain we go through?

i'll show it to you. 
not a lot though.
it'd overwhelm you.

do you know that we'd be shot down if we were in school?

that we're nothing more than a hashtag?
do you know that instead of fearing a bullet,
we fear a virus? 

we fear our own minds, too,
but that's just all in our heads. 

do you know
we would fear for our lives daily
but at this point,
our lives just mean nothing? 

you say they do.

you tell us we do. 

and maybe we'd believe you,
but you've told us lies upon lies
taken upon lives upon lives
is this a lie too? 

you tell us
that our voices are important,
to speak out.

so why do you tell us we're too young
when we do?

why do you leave us behind,
bruised and battered and tired,
gifting us a world just as broken as we are? 

why do you only listen when we start protests?

why do you only care when we shout?

is it because you've conditioned us to whisper? 

do you know we're hit enough at home? 
we don't need you, complaining over the phone
about how we're lazy and useless.
our brains tell us that enough for the both of us.

do you know we're so close to just pulling the trigger
into our own minds instead of others?

do you know that thousands already have?

do you know that the fraction of the kids you see online
the ones wearing smiles and doing tiktok dances
are just trying to hide their pain?

do you know that online's a coping mechanism? 

we're coping because of you.

have you seen enough?
i can show you more.

do you know this is your fault?

do you know you stole our innocence?
do you know you took our childhood?
do you know you are the source of our pain?
do you know? really? 

i need you to open your eyes
we know what we're seeing,
and it's a world on the verge of death.
like us. 

and then, when you're not as blind as you are,
i will tell you the same thing you told me once. 

suck it up
and do better.

dear america, 

do you know we're just kids? 

sincerely,
generation z.

[ 2.25.21 ] 

a.n. this was inspired from a youtube video, highly recommend you watch this.