Mar 2014
They told me that dreams could be achieved, so I could dream as big as I wanted
Nothing could get in the way of my success
So I dreamt of astronauts and doctors and believed I would be them someday
Now that I’m older, I know that there are copious amounts of things that could get in my way
One- they told me to dream but they shoved me into this hole of their lost lives
Trying to get me to be what they aren’t
Two- they box you in from the start, telling you that you’ll only be something in life if you go to college and
Three- college becomes the planet Mars that needs a hell of a lot of work to get to and it seems impossible but they say it’s worth a shot so
Four- you push yourself and every being of your body aches with contempt knowing that they give you expectations that are the size of lightyears
Expectations that exponentially grow every time you get an A+ in whatever subject the University of Mars looks for in your major
Expectations that seem impossible to achieve but they say it’s worth a shot
Five- if nothing could get in my way from success then I would be in every newspaper you read at the breakfast table
I would be known but instead I’m here as a triangle trying to fit in the perfect square mold that they have forged for me
Six- even if I fit, I would pass up on the trip to Mars because thanks, but no thanks, I don’t want to be the meat trying to fill the empty corpse that was your dream
Seven- am I so insufficient that I can’t dream for myself
Eight- I got good grades and I was never bad because I knew that I was going to be something in life so I forced myself to be the square
Nine- I dreamt big because I could
I didn’t need you or them to use me as their string puppet because if I wanted to get **** done I had to do it for myself
And my kids will never go through this, I swear
They will have no mold and I will never burden them
You see,
Ten- they told me nothing could get in the way of my success, but now that I’m older
Now that I’m older, I see that the only thing that was getting in my way
Was you
Nothing could get in the way of my success
So I dreamt of astronauts and doctors and believed I would be them someday
Now that I’m older, I know that there are copious amounts of things that could get in my way
One- they told me to dream but they shoved me into this hole of their lost lives
Trying to get me to be what they aren’t
Two- they box you in from the start, telling you that you’ll only be something in life if you go to college and
Three- college becomes the planet Mars that needs a hell of a lot of work to get to and it seems impossible but they say it’s worth a shot so
Four- you push yourself and every being of your body aches with contempt knowing that they give you expectations that are the size of lightyears
Expectations that exponentially grow every time you get an A+ in whatever subject the University of Mars looks for in your major
Expectations that seem impossible to achieve but they say it’s worth a shot
Five- if nothing could get in my way from success then I would be in every newspaper you read at the breakfast table
I would be known but instead I’m here as a triangle trying to fit in the perfect square mold that they have forged for me
Six- even if I fit, I would pass up on the trip to Mars because thanks, but no thanks, I don’t want to be the meat trying to fill the empty corpse that was your dream
Seven- am I so insufficient that I can’t dream for myself
Eight- I got good grades and I was never bad because I knew that I was going to be something in life so I forced myself to be the square
Nine- I dreamt big because I could
I didn’t need you or them to use me as their string puppet because if I wanted to get **** done I had to do it for myself
And my kids will never go through this, I swear
They will have no mold and I will never burden them
You see,
Ten- they told me nothing could get in the way of my success, but now that I’m older
Now that I’m older, I see that the only thing that was getting in my way
Was you
A slam poem, of some sort, inspired by Rudy Francisco
