Just Peachy

Fear or Realization

I heard them talking the other day,
didn't mean to eavesdrop but they were just loud.
They talked about how my generation is weak,
About how brave they had been growing up,
How they had stared at both life and death in the face
And had managed to succeed.
They went on and on about their supposed exploits,
Exploits only they knew of,
And they never got tired of preaching.

I found myself asking,
Not them but myself.
With their egos they probably wouldn't take it.
If they were brave as they claim,
What do they drown everyday when they drink?
When they leave their homes and search for new pastures,
To lay in for the night
If they were so strong, why then could they never teach us
They only knew how to block it, not how to fight.

If they were so determined and courageous,
How come they are trapped in places they didn't want to be?
Burdened by loads they weren't meant to carry.
Yet they sing about how weak we are,
About how we would never survive on our own.
They forget, that's what savages thought,
Staring at the civilized man, in his cotton clothes, sleeping in his wool blankets,
Yet here he stands, the most feared animal alive.

I'm not saying it's ok what we are doing,
All I'm saying is, strength isn't only in the lump in our arms
Subjective is what it is,
A giant in the right company would only be considered big
Not the greatest, not the best
Not something to stare and marvel at
Only an abnormality amongst men.

I'm not condoning what young men have done
All I'm saying is, maybe it's strength
Realizing that they can't go on, and instead of fighting a losing battle
Accepting that they have reached the end of the road
Looking straight at their problems and knowing when they have been beat.
Maybe it's courage, rendering death by their own hand
In replication of the Samurai,
Whose acts were considered brave
So tell me then, what changed?
That you look at us, disgusted,
Yet never concerned.
Angered, yet never interested,
Not in what we had to say, nor what we had to face
Yet they claim to be strong, claim to be brave
When they can never face their hardest foe,
Themselves.