A N T H E M

i. anthem

we get good grades to go to good schools

                                                                             to make good money we

                               do things just because we are good at them we

                                                            make ourselves into caricatures

              for people to enjoy or be impressed by we

              fill our heads with clouds

                            and cry when we cannot reach them we

turn up the radio so loud

                       to drown our own thoughts we

                                                      flawlessly dance on slippery sidewalks in the rain

but trip on our mistakes we

struggle to get up we

                don't know a thing but we

                                               don't have time to learn we

                  want the stars but can only grasp at the treetops we

build each other up only to

                                               try and tear each other down we

               stay up until 3am because of insomnia

                                                             or too much work we

               dry our tears on our own shoulders we

are the broken we

are the corrupt we

are the shallow.