Like glass,
shattered.
Like paper,
torn.
Like bones,
fractured.
This is the state
of our Nation.
A heart so broken,
a soul so numb,
children are now blamed
for ruining the innocence
their “leaders” were supposed to protect.
A mind so closed
and a vision so stagnant,
this new generation
has come of age
in a society that holds
the value of an arcane law written hundreds of years ago
on higher ground than the safety of our youth.
A nation so insecure,
afraid of giving away even an ounce of our undeserved power,
it has lost all sense of empathy.
A nation with a vision so skewed,
we only see ourselves.
Once commended for welcoming others with open arms,
now confined
to the comforts
of our own beliefs,
blind to the progression
of the world around us.
But among the chaos and the lies,
within the rubble caused by such inhumane destruction,
a hope arises.
A group of angels
wise beyond their years,
who know a pain that most will never even touch,
have inspired a new sense of hope.
This is the story
of a new generation.
One this fractured nation tried to break,
but who came back even stronger —
knowing they were meant for something great.
Amidst the pain and the ugly
there is immense beauty to be found
in the strength of these children
who have traded soccer practice for organizing,
sleeping in for rising up,
school leadership for community activism,
video games for message crafting,
prom for rally planning.
Who have traded their last precious moments of adolescence
to awaken the lost conscience of America.
Who have realized the faults of our leaders that failed them,
and in turn
decided it was their time
to take the reins.
So world,
listen up.
This is the story
of a new generation
here to save us
from the incompetence we have allowed to persist.
This is the story
of the end
of complacency.
Evan Petschke 