Silent Soldier

They tell us to grow up,

To be mature,

To be responsible, and active, and social, and

Everything else society desires us to become.

They tell us everything matters,

And that things will never be easy.

They tell us the importance of honesty,

Truth, legitimacy, trust, and a good work ethic.

They've planted these seeds,

And refused to give water.

They refused to give sunlight,

Nutrients, and soil. They left us alone.

And we withered.

We crippled and folded in on ourselves.

We decayed and we rotted,

And everyone around just watched us.

People trampled on us, and stomped us

Deep into the ground. Their long and

Fake heels pounded us down, taking us with them,

Leaving battle scars.

The path that they led us down was corroding

With weeds and moss that planted their

Parasitic selves in our way. The path failed us.

They failed us.

They let the animals eat us away,

The jackhammer dig us up.

The herbivores and humans alike

Attacked, gnawing away at our will.

They watched us,

Through thick and thin and all

That grey matter in among.

They poured the concrete, they built the mold.

Some of us were dragged through,

Others scampered on their own.

And a few were left behind.

Their fossil a reminder of what could be.

We reached the end, crying and whimpering.

Curses spat from our tongues,

They dribbled from our lips. We scratched

And fought and tried to tear Them apart, but They held their ground.

They all stepped aside, and we expected

The light to shine. Instead, dark despair swallowed us.

The road continued more cracked and

Damaged and beat up than before.

Some of us, we marched on. Others,

They stayed behind, not venturing into

The unknown. The unknown, an everlasting place,

A place that perhaps, would never be figured out.

Among whispers and shouts our thanks

Were lost, gone with the wind. Through sorrowful

Stares we raised our arms to pushed them aside,

And trudged along our new path.

And back down that wretched path

We traveled years later, to say thank you.

We thank Them, the silent soldiers of this world.

The words we never got out before

Lifted from ours hearts, and danced on theirs.

Smiles shined back to us, and we turned our backs

And traveled down that path, alone this time.