Blindness

We've heard it from a young age-

Don't stare at the sun, it's too bright.

They tell us not to look into the light.

But these are the same people that tell us

Not to worry about politics just yet

While they pile onto an unbearable debt

That we will have to shoulder when we grow.

They tell us not to be so loud

While they have stopped making noise

About things that mattered long ago,

Leaving those who can’t speak for themselves

To suffer injustice in silence.

They tell us not to try and change everything

While the traditions they uphold

Are helping our society crumble.

They tell us not to aim so high

While they settle for what the world

Has told them they deserve,

Has told them is safe and normal.

So I have something to tell them.

Are they listening? Yes, there you all are.

I dare you to look into the light.

I tell you not to look away as I do everything you’ve told me not to.

If this is breaking the rules, then rules were meant to be broken,

And broken doesn’t mean what I thought it did.

I will look into the light.

I’m not turning a blind eye anymore.

I’m going to seek the light, the truth, the complicated in the world.

Looking into the brightness will not blind me,

But blindly following a lost generation of settling,

Of mediocrity and shrinking quiet,

Of hiding your own brightness

Would do worse than blind me.

It would kill me.

Or worse-

make me just like you.