What has my life become?

Battles in accounted
Opposition in hatred
Conflict felt
Mountains trembled
Temples fell
Beaten and torn
Death and pain until
Piercing and anguish
Thunder roar
Earthquake
Darkness spread
Battle siege
Rise from the ashes
Smoke that cleared
Sight of sunlight
Dawn of a new day
Honor through tribulation
Tomorrow’s promise
Overcame
Fortress
Story told
Victory

Putujem vlakom
do grada Lubecka
na kolodvoru
izlazim iz vlaka
tu me čekaš ti
i naša mala.
Izgrlimo se,izljubimo se
pitaš me kako si
dugo se nismo vidjeli.
Kratko smo razgovarali
nakon toga kući smo otišli.
Donio sam poklone
da vas razvesele.
Društvene smo igre zajedno igrali
do kasno u noć smo pričali.
Sljedećeg dana otišli ******>do sjevernog mora
pješćanih plaža
lijepog mjesta Travemundea.
Nekoliko sretnih dana
što smo zajedno bili mi
srce ne želi ali moram otići.
Opet ću doći
da vas vidim
oboje vas volim.

Stjepan Orlić

I'm lost in a maze.
Trying to find my way out.
I seek for answers.
But none is found.

As our thoughts turn to such things
Purported to be the province of springtime,
We search the skies, the flora, the dirt its ownself
For portents and signs, some nod from the ether
Suggesting the arrival of completing part,
Some corner piece to our lovelorn jigsaw puzzle
(Such burning bushes not extant in the cosmos,
Merely chimeras and red herrings
Sprung full blown from our wishes and imaginings)
And having perhaps said the hell with all that,
We find ourselves bamboozled, wholly undone
By something subterranean to our longing,
A soft giggle, a smile we'd overlooked heretofore
Subsequently awash in a thing of some divination
Wholly beyond our notion of free will
(But such conceptions just schoolbook fol-de-rol,
Rendered superfluous by the embrace
Of that which, had we had a choice,
We'd have embraced without a whisper of hesitation)
And having our preconceptions scattered
Like so many petals of some loves-me-loves me not daisy,
We titter softly under our breath,
As our deities are not the only ones to have a chuckle
At our well-thought-out conniving.

Yeah, I said it.
Your kids are lazy
Not because they’re broken,
But because you broke the cycle.
You gave them a screen,
Not a skill.
You gave them silence,
Not structure.
You gave in
Instead of showing up.
You didn’t wanna deal,
So now they don’t know how.

Yeah, I said it.
We bred a generation of slackers,
Who push buttons but don’t push themselves.
When I was their age,
We had summer jobs,
Cut grass, flipped burgers,
Sweated for a dollar
Because goals meant something.

You placed your child in front of a screen
Because you didn’t want to entertain them.
You didn’t send them outside to play
You coddled them.
When their grades slipped,
Did you help them?
Or just ask around,
Waiting for the school to fix it?
Now the schools are stripped bare,
Defunded and dying.
Back then, we had after-school sports,
We learned how to lose,
How to win,
How to be part of a team.
But these kids?
They show up at my door,
No eye contact, no backbone,
No clue how to speak like they belong in the world.

Now I’m training kids
Who don’t even want the keys.
They don’t wanna be the boss,
They just want the break room.
No grind.
No plan.
Just vibes and complaints
About rent,
About food,
About life
But they don’t want more,
They just want easier.

Yeah, I said it.
They wear pajamas with pride,
And call it style,
But don’t own the ambition
To move beyond survival.
And I get it
The system’s rigged.
Education costs more than it’s worth,
Healthcare’s a maze with no map,
And the ones in charge?
They don’t give a ****.

Yeah, I said it.
We are divided by design.
Because unity doesn’t win elections.
Hate is a headline.
And kindness?
That’s for suckers now.
Being cruel is political currency
And people are cashing in.

So yeah, I said it.
And I’ll say it again.
Because silence is complicity,
And I’d rather be the villain
With a mirror
Than the hero with a blindfold.

But now I’m saying this
It’s not too late.
Turn off the screen.
Talk to your kids.
Hold them accountable.
Teach them how to speak,
How to strive,
How to fail,
And still keep going.
Show them what it means
To earn something,
To dream bigger,
To stand for more than just survival.

Because the truth?
We don’t need more noise.
We need leaders.
We need parents who parent,
Kids who hustle,
Teachers who are paid,
And a country that gives a **** again.

Yeah, I said it.
But don’t just hear me
Do something.

I try to breathe, and observe the moment.
Sounds beyond notes,
Hush between seconds,
To try and be still,
And withhold the judgment.

My pulse, a metronome
Keeping time with now.
But the past smokes through the cracks in my strength,
Dragging me back,
Into silence that howls.

My memory, a muscle
Flinching at threats gone by.
Painting shadows on the backs of my eyes,
Until daylight feels like a lie.

I try to sit still,
A collapsing star
Triggered into fusion,
The future a black hole.

Still, I breathe.
Still, I try.
Because, I am here.
I am still here.
Resisting the gravitational pull into darkness.
And that, too, is worth noticing.