Friday, October 29, 2010

Youthful Words Found on the Street

While out for an early morning walk with the dog; pre-dawn dark, chill of Fall, crunch of leaves; I came across a bit of litter mixed in with the fallen leaves.  Because I’m not fond of litter in my neighborhood, I stooped down, grabbed the litter and stuffed it into my vest pocket for proper disposal upon my return home, as I am wont to do.

Upon returning home, I pulled the offending litter from my pocket to toss in the trash, and noted that what I had pocketed as litter, was actually two pages of lined notebook paper, neatly folded three times.  In order to satisfy my curiousity regarding this find, I unfolded the sheets of paper, and found that I was holding a seventh grader’s rough draft of written words for an unknown class.  At least that is what I was led to deduce based on the the annotations neatly penned at the top of the first sheet of paper.  “Rough Draft.,” Mina ______. 7a.

Anyway, I read through the words penned by this young individual, probably a 12 year old girl, and found that I was impressed by her perspicacity, a trait many individuals are inclined to discredit in 12 year olds.  I was impressed enough by this girls rough draft that I attempted to return the work by stepping into the Catholic school by my house to inquire if she was a student.  Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Here are the words I found.  Verbatim.  They exhibit a deeper understanding than I note in too large of a percentage of individuals.

No one wants to realize the truth.
People cover up honest facts.

We sympathize ourselves.
They pretend; ignore reality.

We tell ourselves it’s okay when we glance at the dusty
exercise bike in the corner.

We ignore the man with the damp cardboard sign
and empty Starbucks cup.

Yeah God loves you.
So the rest isn’t your problem.

We blame it on fate.
Oh Jesus Lord Almighty.
Sure, he loves you.

You tell yourself not to worry about other countries in
the world.  You try not to think about them.

Cause your main concern is fitting into a smaller
size jean.  The reputation of your country means
nothing.

They say we’re fighting for peace.
But nobody wins when it comes to war.

And the numbers of those who aren’t coming home
are beginning to show.

Sure, we could say it’s us against them.
It’s just going to result in finger pointing in the end.

But they’re just using what they know.
It’s what the kids see on the tv screen.

We’re convinced we’re right.
But we’re not the good guys.

Fighting is only an excuse for us.
And fighting has turned into a standard of life.

But it doesn’t have to be.
It’s just the same old game.

We worry about meals when other countries are
burning wives and losing lives.

You never know what you have till it’s goine.  But some
Never have had anything.

We’re spiraling out of control, and it’s inevitable.
Someone help us please, cause we’re on all fours.

You say you can’t sleep at night.
We’re all convinced nothings going to end up alright.

We keep playing this sick game, it’s so insincere.
I wish I could change the ways of the world.

Posted by John Venlet on 10/29 at 10:08 AM
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