They said
Don’t wear leggings
Or a shirt that shows your cleavage
Because you need to be covered up
You’re a distraction

They said
Don’t use your period as an excuse
For male teachers to let you go to the bathroom
Because you’re not fooling anybody

They said
Don’t shave your head
Boys can
You can’t and don’t
And won’t because we’ll suspend you

They said
Watch the length of your skirt
The color of your hair
The shoes and makeup
The piercings
And they call that fair

They said
Come to us if something is wrong
if you’re feeling bullied
if you feel unsafe
I guess they don’t remember asking my friend and I
if we heard of anyone in our year with suicidal tendencies
They asked us because
We were the sensible ones
The bright ones
We couldn't have been depressed.
I guess they didn’t see my panic
and my hand squeezing my wrist.


Because school
Is not a place
Where you can express who you are
School is not the place where you feel safe
It's a battleground on the outside of your comfort zone.

School isn’t about education
Its a challenge, competition
Its a measurement of your capabilities  

But what if you don't excel?
You’re called out for not being good enough
You're humiliated. Mocked.

You get looked down on
Judged
Embarrassed
And you don’t get your
Degree

As if a degree explains who you are
What you’ve been through
How much you’re worth

As if a degree
Measures the capacity
Of your heart
And your knowledge

And a teacher can share your grade
Make a joke and smirk
Cause they think you’re not worth it

And they can laugh and yell and call your parents
Who don’t think you’re any better.

Because year after year they’ve been led to believe
that you’re easily distracted
that you don’t do what you’re told
that you’re rebellious

Because even if you showed respect to the hypocrisy
That you can't help but notice,
They still won’t understand that you're just fighting
for what you believe is right, for mutual respect.

Because that’s not what you were thought.
You were thought to raise your hand when you want to speak.
And even if you made a valid point
You would still get lectured on putting your hand up when you want to speak.
Discipline put first.

**And that is my definition of school

O, you are a success.
You are a living success.
You are a success,
that have unearthed
the chaos and unrest
in the minds of a generation
from baby boomers to millenials
from the east to the west.

O, you are a success.
You are a living success.
you left a lasting memory
and unshaken legacy
filled with utter hypocrisy
and bureaucracy
shrouded with the cry
of everlasting demand
and accomplishment.

O, you are a success.
why should you be worried.
You are a living success.

It never fails.
All hail Generation Tongue In Mouth.
Let them go.
For they don't want you now.
It's a shame,
A weak man's game.
Let them go.
Don't you know Generation Tongue In Mouth?
Go ahead,
Break connection now.
That's just how it goes sometimes,
Don't take it personal.

No sacred book,
Or talisman,
No prayer,
Or synagogue
Or mosque,
Can ever change this truth,
Ancient and antiquated:
When two are in love,
No matter the gender,
Culture,
Or identity,
The earth moves in wonder;
The mountains bow down in awe.

my Father planted
the seed, yet
I
reaped
The flower.

What kind of
Garden
shall we sow?

By Arcassin Burnham


Spacing out the outer layers,
Pacing back and forth on stairs,
Will we ever learn today?
Will we ever learn today?
Therefore what will bring tonight?
I gave up along time ago saving people,
That I just lost the will to fight,
Somehow I can't sleep tonight,
If this possible , won't you please lend
me your energy,
I'm tired of making trades and you're
tired of agreeing.
Better educate yourselves or this could get
ugly,
Not knowing is a curse,
But sometimes half the battle knowing
that it could get worse,
A sharp mind leads to a show birth,
Black don't crack , better ask that,
As long as your not on real crack at the age
Of 23.

/

We are all not long for this world,
Reality is just a swirl,
Stirred up lies and counterfeit,
Kids that are desensitized,
And that won't open eyes,
Here it really is a thin line,
Between the sleep and woke and divine,
And you still think the world is fine,
But I object,
Living by a code striking  or posing no threat with disposable
body mass like a little child,
But I know that I'm destined for great things and no matter
what  I'll always be a fine addition to a reality I need to find,
For you guys  that still snore , yeah you're out of time,
Stuck in sticky situations like a porcupine,
I'll never take the crown cause it's not mine,
Want to be enlightened like the divine,
The two deities,
Not no entities,
There will be a day of reckoning,
Let the choir sing,
More than I could bring,
It's like a bunch of things.

A generation filled with hate,
fueled by our elders,
every decision lies in their hands.
The perpetrators of our demise,
is not ourselves.
It’s the world that’s been created for us,
what a surprise.

A generation filled with pain,
depressions an epidemic
that others don’t always understand.
A world created for competition not salvation,
or finding inner peace.

A generation filled with love,
society has taught us to suppress.
Who's the best? Who's the most powerful?
Redefining love to something people can barely express,
swimming in an ocean of fear;
fear of rejection,
fear of failure,
fear of ourselves.

A generation filled with so much,
That was always told:
"it’s not enough".