The In-Crowd

(poems go here) On My Grievances Towards the "In-Crowd" Marvelous days passed in my desert homeland When youth was not entirely wasted on we young, We dwelt on folly naught, but sought the task at hand: Growth, and discovery of thing whence truth sprung. We sought to overthrow expectations; A body of triumphal youth in the nation. Silent, a great hand from above reached down and shook This life which I had known; sprawled across the map To a seaside Eden, my prior life forsook. Now in tamer climate, strewn with social traps, The toughest little in-crowd ever seen Stopped by, and for some reason, accepted me. Skin fresh with ink, and whistling song of years past, Clad in phonograph slang, red lips and vapid dreams, They stayed with the trend, and the trend moved fast. They plotted and dreamt up their illicit schemes. Books had lost value, the future held no weight The parties and the rage meant living for today. Briefly did I cross that finite boundary line; the empty revelry and nonsense took their toll. Projects that grew overdue, essays not on time Soon I grew to worry, they scorned my 'ill' soul. I wished to leave, they pledged to change; they lied. Slowly I withdrew, there were false tears in their eyes. I heard a named I'd know on a tragic broadcast My being shook at the thought of my escape Some with wealthy fathers received a second chance Other never made it, lives left agape. Some say that the future is nothing but fate But the story of life, only one can dictate.