Ode to “The Real World”

They have warned us about you,

You with your lack of sympathy 

Endless responsibilities 

And taxes

Growing up they’d ask us

About our aspirations but

Regardless of our answers

We were force-fed ghost stories—

Tales of brave young people 

With hopeful eyes 

Just like us, 

Their wild dreams 

You turned to dust,

Your distinct features/

Featured in our nightmares

We developed a fear of aging 

Of moving, of changing

And we wrung our hands when

The years passed too fast

They made us believe you exist

Only for our destruction 

But we were never the generation

To accept corruption 

Or to lose hope so easily 

Because maybe their stories

Are not what they seem to be;

Maybe you, “The Real World”

Are just a conspiracy made

To scare us away

From who we were meant to be

But if the stories are true

And you are the monster 

They say you are,

We will conquer you

Just as our parents have

Before us