High School.

Where everyone believes getting drunk and high's cool.
Sleep the least and work the most.
Hide their beast, only talk to boast.
Laugh but conceal, smile but never feel.
Take what's painless over what's real.
Don't open up because they don't understand.
Grown ups only give you expectations and demands.
Ask for help on something else and its out of their hands.
And they wonder why student interest is reduced to strands.

Expect them to figure out the rest of their life.
If they don't, let their failure cut them like a knife.
Overloading with choices drowns out their voices.
The next generation is drained and in pain.
Education's so clerical its a miracle they're sane.
They assume with current events that kids won't be affected.
When really all the hate and pain and hurt just gets projected
On a fragile state of mind still finding their identity.
They see kids who are unique and think punishment's the remedy.

How do kids respond when we stomp on their soul?
Searching for an out when we bury hope in a hole?
Now they can't see, because they don't have their own place
To discover who they are, they can't feel their own face.
I can't embrace a place where kids can't be who they are.
A light that can't shine, a night with no stars.

Spending my Wednesdays on trail mix & futons
Hiding inside when outside's like the Yukon
Knowing the cold comes from a storm I can't see
Trying to spread warmth like the sun I can't be
They say "do what you love" and "want what you need"
But they take and they take and they take and they take my love
and break it and fake it and snake it and bite my hand when I feed

I owe it to myself to put "they" behind "we"
Because all the trials I still see are a reflection of me
I rely on accomplishments to build my self-confidence
I cannot take a compliment because they still feel dishonest
How can I give warmth to others if I can't warm myself?
I just ignore the signs, don't prioritize health

I try to do the basics, eat, sleep, repeat
Write, read, and run, just make time for fun
I start to feel better but know I'm not done
It ends with self-love, putting myself above
So when the times are rough, I know that I'm enough
Now I know when life gets cold like the Yukon
I'll remember this Wednesday of trail mix & futons