Where things are not as they seem
Where the lives of the living
Play out like reality TV
Where the nuances of mortality
Become a bitter nostalgia
Where the seraphims and cherubs are at war
Where the righteous are separated from the flock
Where the segregation is worse than that on earth
Spirits: separated by their humility
Demons: separated by their humanity
And us
The forgotten.
Below we watch as mortals gather
Clutching cheap plastic plants
And uttering phrases that don't matter
For they are living and we, are not
For here there are no feelings
Of tenderness or sympathy
No longings for the former life
We reluctantly had to leave
Down there, they pretend to care
And utter vague descriptions of your favourite sports
How you were always there
They vaguely recall a time
When you displayed your talents brilliantly
Not knowing that those talents were,
To you a mere necessity
A formality of existence
A compulsory facet to your character
Prescribed to you by your family.
Behold! They lay wreaths upon your grave
The classmates who failed you
Who ridiculed your outer being
Who pushed you aside in the hallways
The parents that never understood
Who let you slip away between their fingers
Who watched silently as you withered away
A skeleton, wasting away
The teachers who wrote reports
About how you refused to conform
To participate, bow before
To kneel when they walked through the door.
Your shortcomings were critiqued
Your mediocrities assessed
Your confidence shattered
Your achievements compared to those of others
And yet they called this education?
The slaughtering of innocents
Of nights spent reading textbooks
Under the cover of darkness and
Eyes red, minds numb, hearts broken
Bones broken, confidence crushed, friends lost,
Drugs taken, brain cells lost, enemies gained,
Talents hidden, achievements compared,
STUDY. PASS. CRAM. PASS. RELAX. FAIL.
RINSE. REPEAT.
STUDY. SMOKE. PASS. CRAM. DRINK. FAIL.
RINSE. REPEAT.
SMOKE. DRINK. CRAM. FAIL. CRAM. CRAM. CRAM.
SMOKE. DRINK.
INHALE. EXHALE.
INJECT. INHALE. SNIFF. CONSUME. DIGEST.
And before you know it,
You're dead.
Just like the rest of us.
And us
The forgotten.
Below we watch as mortals gather
Clutching cheap plastic plants
And uttering phrases that don't matter
For they are living and we, are not
For here there are no feelings
Of tenderness or sympathy
No longings for the former life
We reluctantly had to leave
Down there, they pretend to care
And utter vague descriptions of your favourite sports
How you were always there
They vaguely recall a time
When you displayed your talents brilliantly
Not knowing that those talents were,
To you a mere necessity
A formality of existence
A compulsory facet to your character
Prescribed to you by your family.
Behold! They lay wreaths upon your grave
The classmates who failed you
Who ridiculed your outer being
Who pushed you aside in the hallways
The parents that never understood
Who let you slip away between their fingers
Who watched silently as you withered away
A skeleton, wasting away
The teachers who wrote reports
About how you refused to conform
To participate, bow before
To kneel when they walked through the door.
Your shortcomings were critiqued
Your mediocrities assessed
Your confidence shattered
Your achievements compared to those of others
And yet they called this education?
The slaughtering of innocents
Of nights spent reading textbooks
Under the cover of darkness and
Eyes red, minds numb, hearts broken
Bones broken, confidence crushed, friends lost,
Drugs taken, brain cells lost, enemies gained,
Talents hidden, achievements compared,
STUDY. PASS. CRAM. PASS. RELAX. FAIL.
RINSE. REPEAT.
STUDY. SMOKE. PASS. CRAM. DRINK. FAIL.
RINSE. REPEAT.
SMOKE. DRINK. CRAM. FAIL. CRAM. CRAM. CRAM.
SMOKE. DRINK.
INHALE. EXHALE.
INJECT. INHALE. SNIFF. CONSUME. DIGEST.
And before you know it,
You're dead.
Just like the rest of us.