Listen

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 If I could change one thing,
Just one,
I would give parents ears
To listen,
Not hear,
Their child’s wishes.
Hearing is a lot like listening
Without the commitment
Of actually doing something.
Hearing
Doesn’t require full use of the brain,
Doesn’t demand attention.
Doesn’t insist on action.
Parents pretend to understand
When they only know what’s “best”.
Giving way to a generation full of
Fucked up kids that just want
Someone to listen.
Tossed aside
As if their opinions aren’t valid,
As if they aren’t human,
As if they’re too young to understand
Begging for someone to care,
Someone to listen.

 

Careless words,

Slammed doors,

Gaping wounds,

Bitter resentment,

How many parents

Would not be grieving

For ghosts of their children

If they had listened

To their child’s pleas for help?

 

 

If I could change one thing,

I would give parents ears

To listen,

Give them permission

To believe it’s not just a phase.

Listening requires full use of the brain,

Requires more than half-hearted acknowledgement.
Insists on action.

 

 

If I could change one thing,

I would give parents

Ears to listen

To the bombs

Exploding inside of their

Slowly self-destructing children,

Ears to listen to the

Stories pulsing through bloodstreams,

Ears to listen

To the cobwebs rattling around

Inside their own children.



 

If I could change one thing,

I would give parents

Ears to listen,

Not hear,
Their child’s wishes.

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