Our Generation

We begin pure. Although our past is befouled by our predecessors, we are clean. And although we are made from the sum of all things, we are unique. An end within oneself, we are Uncorrupted, with no fears, with no restraints. A world to explore, a voice to find, two feet with which We can stand up and stand proud. And as we stand we are struck with varying degrees of wonder Of longing Of passion. Our youth is overcome with an enormous sense of expectation The sense that my life is important, That great achievements are within your capacity, That we can make a difference. We’re all born with that little spark, and we can choose what becomes of it. Stoke it, let it grow, let it burn brighter, let it become stronger; Or let it burn out. But it is not in our nature to begin by giving up, To surrender our potential requires a process of corrosion. Some waver and flicker at the first touch of pressure, Some are snuffed out by cold unforgiving hands, Some simply run out of energy, surrounded by the unforgiving nature of others. They lose the wonder, the longing, the passion. They lose their fire, never really knowing how or when. And then they vanish Into the vast and emotionless void that so many others have been lost to. They grow cold, with hardened expressions grafted into the lines of worn faces. And by adopting the dogma of so many others before them; That Maturity consists of abandoning one’s mind That Security means to abandon one’s values That Practicality is to abandon one’s self esteem; They are lost. Yet there are those that hold on Knowing that that fire is not to be betrayed. As we grow, we learn. We discover how to give our fire shape, a purpose, a reality. And even though only a few in each generation may overcome, Even though only a few may achieve the full reality of man’s proper virtue, It is those few that will move the world and give life its meaning.