Well I Saw

Well I saw

The 'boys will be boys',

And I protested in the streets

Because they weren't the innocent

And I saw a culture

Based on fairytales

And God above,

And I waved my hand at it,

Because it was made of smoke

And I saw the earth

Turn from green to brown,

And I planted a seed,

Because it was all I could do

And I saw a world of sugar,

And of lollies and chocolate

And stick-thin girls,

And I ran at the gym with a two-litre coke

Because I wanted to fit in

And I saw a boy

Closed in by the stereotypes,

Trying on his mother's makeup

In the safety of his room

And I saw the shining yellow

That one man was wearing,

Only to be dulled

And locked in the back of his closet,

Because he wasn't happy anymore

And I saw the two hearts stitched together,

And I thought it didn't matter

That they were the same sex,

Only it did

And I saw a brightly coloured hijab

Burning in a roaring fire,

Reaching for the heavens

But never quite making it,

Torn down by us

And I saw the history books forgotten,

The pages growing dust,

As we repeated ourselves

And told our children to be better

And I saw an unanswered prayer

Floating through the mind

Of a young girl,

Trapped in her father's house,

Waiting to be married

And I saw the government hiding the truth,

Feeding its people the same old wonderful lies,

And the people lapping it up greedily

Because it was hope they were looking for

And I saw the world going blind,

Eyes covered with the lies they built their world around

And materialistic matters,

As they lost sight

Of all the truly important things

And I saw humanity dying

And we became cruel,

So I smiled at a stranger,

Because she looked like she needed it

And I saw the expectations

Thrust upon children too young.

And I cried in the basement

In somebody else’s house,

Because we aren’t allowed to feel

And I saw the over-priced cosmetics and expensive dresses,

The fabric sown with lies,

And I looked down at my hoodie

And wished I had a wall

And I saw a world of starvation

And dehydration,

And I gave them the crumbs

From my Subway sandwich,

Because that’s all I was allowed to do.

Well I saw war,

And death and chaos,

And I was impressed,

Because I thought we’d already destroyed ourselves.