You say I'm "reckless."
I take the subway alone at night
And walk past alleyways
I bike without a helmet
and accept rides from strangers.
I travel alone
to faraway places
with governments
America has flagged
and stay with strangers
I met on airplanes.
I have had casual ***
with lots of men,
I get my heart broken
from those who don't give a ****.

You say I'm "reckless."
My apartment is in a rent controlled complex with sneakers
stuck on the wrought iron fence.
I have water and electricity,
but not internet.
My neighbor was
in a hollywood gang
back in the day
The rest speak Spanish.
I find myself justifying
to you it's temporary,
but secretly am upset that
it will be torn down
just as I finish decorating.

You say I'm naive
when I say there is no evil —
just broken people.
It is people like you
who break them.
You say I'm idealistic
when I don't feed the system.
Why not eat the same rotation cause
it's efficient. *******, daughter!
Follow the recipe!
You say I'm "reckless,"
but I am just living,
and you are a scorpion
poised to attack
anyone who turns over
the rocks you live under.

When you say I'm "reckless,"
I flashback to moments
I'd never sting you with.
Like the time I opened
the window screen
and wondered how far
the fall would be,
crouched upon
a second story balcony.

No, I am not "reckless!"
I just can't understand
The point of fearing death
Or pain
Or suffering
The best art
is created by the ill-content,
the gonzo
the sociopath.
So why not let them live?
Please...just let me live!
Cause I can't take
your eyebrows raised
and the turned-down corners
of your pursed lips,
fearing I am "reckless."
Worried sleepless.
Your puffy purple eyes,
assuming I am floundering,
repulsed by marriage or a salary.
You should just accept
I will never have social security.
As a child...
you taught me I could be anything,
but frowned when I said I liked poetry.
To you, anything meant
a corporate ingenuity
To you, warriors
work hard and succeed.
They needn't take risks,
just business classes.
You wanted to pay for them
and then dine at
an overpriced restaurant afterward.
But I prefer the Bolivian markets.
I want to take you,
but you say it's dangerous
and you'd be rude
to the waitresses.

I know, when you say
that I'm "reckless,"
you are protecting —
a supportive parent.
But saying I am "reckless"
is starting to become overbearing.
You can stop now.
Cause you wont.
Stop it.
You will not **** my instincts,
only augment my rebellion.
You will not make me
in your image 'cause
I don't want to be like you —
Complacent in a bubbled,
grass-fed existence —
cows may live in comfort
but all they do is
pollute the environment.
The day I fear
is not your judgement,
but the day I stop living
and just say people are "reckless."
Even though I never
talk with anyone different.

No, I am not "reckless."
I ride the bus
and forget my headphones
I meet strangers
who become fast friends.
I learn about a world
filled with joy and happiness,
and pain and suffering,
and I love it ALL.
And I will continue to love
all the "reckless" things too,
just as much as you love me
when you tell me:
"Now, don't be reckless."

We call ourselves the reckless youth
Trying to figure out where we are and where we’re planning on going
With lyrics tucked under our tongues that say more than our voices ever will
Where sleepless nights cause purple crescents to appear under our eyes
And replay words from past days through and through our heads

We call ourselves the reckless youth
Looking at the world through maroon eyes
With empty alcohol bottles that we clench onto with our warm sticky palms
And the sheet-ropes we make to climb out of the windows at 3 in the morning
Dealing with the voices and uncertainties of tomorrow
Wondering whether we will wake up inside of our beds smelling of lavender
Or in a field sprawled out among other teenage bodies reeking of beer

We call ourselves the reckless youth
With the memories of Christmas lights that are over-expired
That brought kisses that won't mean a thing to anyone as morning brings massive headaches
Because worthless kisses are now more valuable to us
Then the ones our parents now forget to give

We call ourselves the reckless youth
Because our generation is made up of lost souls
And scars that line the insides and outsides of our bodies
The same scars that we hide behind smiles and stories that swim in our heads
This is our disease and it is contagious
Coming with the temptation of sneaking out to the flowers that grow around campfires
And the reminiscences of lust still stuck to the grass like dew
Ghosts of the lingering fingers that caressed the parts we’ve hidden from society

We call ourselves the reckless youth
Our lives making up pages in a novel that consist of skinny jeans and over-sized sweatshirts
Of the promise that we’ll see better days
And the sun that is still trying to be shielded with broken sunglasses
Tan lines from 7 am runs because the voices in our heads are way too loud

We call ourselves the reckless youth
Addicted to computer screens and turning away only to measure our waists
Ignoring the constant fire outside our door
Deciding to stay inside a burning house instead of running to safety
Here we continue to try and create something new
A life of fantasy where there will be use of different flames
To destroy all of the memories of reality
Because we are misused
Misjudged

We call ourselves reckless
Not because we aren’t wise
But because our wisdom comes in different forms
Like the tidal waves of people crashing upon us
Who tell us we are not good enough
And the words that continue to build inside our bones
Yet we know that these flowers braided in our hair
Will forever be worth more than the diamonds that line their clothes

We call ourselves the reckless youth
When the adults tell us no
But we insist on saying yes
Because it’s not that we are afraid of death
We are afraid of living
Here in this pace where we’ll be dead
Far before we have the chance to live

And maybe we are wasting our time
Though time is a luxury we cannot yet afford
So we will continue to climb out windows
Sneak through back doors
Where we then strip our bodies of the loosely fitted clothes
Quickly dipping our naked frames under the cold water
Forgetting what has made us tired
What made us upset
Which come with the wilting petals of all the things we did wrong
All the regrets we cannot take back

We call ourselves the reckless youth
When we watch the black sky and its stars well past midnight
And look for the familiar sight of home within the walls of our imagination
Where reality slips into a blur of pink and orange clouds

We don’t call ourselves reckless
Because we decided to escape reality, ourselves and society
And blow out clouds of ***** air from deep within our lungs
Or burn holes in our throats from fermentation
We are the reckless youth
Because we chose to be wise
To be strong
To be infinite

We call ourselves the reckless youth
Trying to figure out where we are and where we are going
With lyrics tucked under our tongues that say more than our voices ever will
Our sleepless nights that cause purple crescents to appear under our eyes
And the words we replay in our head of past days
We call ourselves the reckless youth
Looking at the world through maroon eyes
With empty bottles that we hold in our warm sweaty palms
And the sheet-ropes we make to climb out of the windows at 3 in the morning
With the uncertainty of tomorrow
Whether we will wake up inside of our beds smelling of lavender
Or in a field sprawled out among other teenage bodies reeking of beer
With the memories of Christmas lights that are over-expired
And of the kisses that won't mean a thing to anyone when the sun starts to wake us up with massive headaches
Because worthless kisses are now more valuable to us
Making up the ones our parents never gave
We call ourselves the reckless youth
Because our generation is made up of lost souls due to the words spat out by our foes
And the scars that line the inside and outside of our bodies
The scars that we hide behind smiles and stories that fill our heads
But be careful of standing too close
You might catch our disease
That comes with the temptation of stealing out to the flowers that grow around campfires
And the reminiscences of lust still stuck to the grass
Where the lingering of fingers that caress the parts of us that are hidden from society
We call ourselves the reckless youth
Our lives making up pages in a novel consisting of skinny jeans and over-sized sweatshirts
Of promises of better days that have yet to come
And the sun that we are still trying to see through broken sunglasses
The tan lines from the 7 am runs because the voices in our heads aren't going away
We call ourselves the reckless youth
Addicted to staring at computer screens and only turning away to measure our waists
And when there is a constant fire outside our door
We will stay inside always trying to create something new
A life of fantasy
A life to burn all of our memories of reality
Because we are misused
Misjudged
We call ourselves reckless
Not because we are not wise
But because our wisdom comes from tidal waves of people crashing upon us tell us we are not good enough
But the flowers in our hair are worth more then the diamonds that line her skirt
We call ourselves the reckless youth
When the adults tell us no
But we insist on saying yes
When we are not afraid of death
We are afraid of living
And at this pace we will be dead before we live
Maybe we are wasting our time
But time is a luxury we just cannot afford
So we will go out
Stripping our bodies of the loosely fitted clothes and dipping out naked frames under cold water
Forgetting what made us tired
What made us upset with the wilting pedals of all the things we did wrong
All the regrets we cannot take back
We call ourselves the reckless youth
Who watch the stars well past midnight
And look for the familiar sight of home within the walls of our imagination
Where reality slips into a blur of pink and orange clouds
We don't merely call ourselves the *reckless youth
Because we decided to escape society and reality rather than ourselves
We *are the reckless youth
Because we chose to be wise
To be strong
To be unique
*To be infinite