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 Apr 2016 Aleria Imperatrix
niamh
Beyond the clouds
There is a light
Gentle and strong
The promise
Of the end of night.
It shimmers
With the sound of
Children's laughter.
The hint of
A happily ever after.
Or maybe just
Okay for now,
But we'll make it
Through this storm
Somehow.
Thirty thousand dollars.
That is how much a decent education will cost me.
Thirty thousand a year.
Thirty thousand that should go towards my family's debt right now but will only add to it in 2 years time.

"Why are these kids so lazy? Why don't they get degrees? Maybe then they wouldn't be so **** broke."

Well hey, the money we're hoping to make with our degrees means nothing when we're spending the first 10 'legal' years of our lives working to keep afloat,
keep the IRS from breathing down our necks,
keep pulling together just enough to not quite make rent yet again.

"Get a job. That's what I did growing up. You're just making excuses."

Yeah, and when you were growing up Yale's tuition was 5k and flipping burgers made enough to feed a family.

Brick by brick our fates are sealed,

Brick by brick we were set up for financial disrepair.

"Don't forget about FAFSA", right?
But of course, if you have an income, it's all going towards college, right?
Or if you don't, your middle class parents can afford to pay for you to go, right?

They don't need to give us a ton of help - rent is a luxury, remember?

Money is a luxury, remember?

Living is a luxury, remember?
And a great big ******* to the American education system.
I was once a man greater than any other man,
Against the greatest odds I stood, where many ran.
It was I who would slay mighty dragons, and triumph over evil kings,
In every tavern and mead hall, they would hail my name and sing!
I was at the top of the world, and nothing could knock me down!
For my blood they came, but in their own they drowned,
I was hailed a hero in my province and legend in the realm!
Mighty Legions under a great empire, with me at their helm,
Glorious was the ground we tread upon, the sky open and free!
I used to be an adventurer like you…
But then I took an arrow to the knee.
I will not be my parents.


For every negative comment they exchange,
I will have something positive to say.
For every door that slams,
I will hold one open.

I will not let myself bring unhappiness to the table, then wonder why supper is so bitter.
I move forward to ignore the past
I learned from history in my mind
I did not want to express yesterdays

I ask you
I plead with you
don’t taint this ground
I know the past is colored scarlet
and you will drench the floor in your blood

I am fragile, but you break like time

I climb, but now look to this pit
I am the pit of a pit on the ground, and you wander

I step once
then step again
but it is you who should watch your feet
because I am an orchard
an orchard of mines
It has become my norm to push people away
because somewhere along the road
I found it was easier to shove people aside
than give them a chance

It's easier to hang up her call
than watch her drift to sleep.

It's easier to tell him I have work
than turn to face him.

It's easier to walk away from them
than sit there worrying about hurting them and them hurting me.

It's easier to sleep at night
knowing I drove them away
instead of the other way around

It's easier to know I'm the one who ended it

Because it's easier to hurt someone else
before that person has the chance to hurt me.
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