Kids These Days... By J.J. Hale

Kids these days are entitled

You say with a sneer

Disdain dripping 

from words you don’t understand

Words you use disparagingly

While they water a seed of hope in me

Because truth be told

on the core words

We don’t disagree

Kids these days are entitled

To more than just unconditional love

Wrapped up in bows of guilt

A gift meant to be returned

No matter the cost

Unconditionally grateful 

(for a life they didn’t request)

Kids these days are entitled

To be heard as well as seen

To a voice that doesn’t waiver at the thought

of speaking their truth

Of disappointing the powers that be

By finally standing up and saying 

Listen

This is me

Kids these days are entitled

To safety, care and love

Even through the uncomfortable emotions

that you want to quash

As they bubble to the surface

Surfacing your own

They are, in fact, entitled 

not to face those things alone

Kids these days are entitled

To be people deserving of respect

Not just an extension

of the adults who feel entitled

to the kids they can no longer control

To make themselves feel whole

With a life they deem a gift

Bestowed

A gift 

(with a balance always owed)

Kids these days are entitled

To grow, develop and learn

To become people who don’t feel entitled

To the respect of their children

By providing the bare minimum

Allowing them to exist

In a society that provides far less

than our kids are entitled to

If you enjoyed this piece, please follow J.J. Hale on Twitter @overthinkerjess.

Rest in Pieces By Sarah Buck

Grief burns low and hot

Sometimes it rages

Others it’s smoldering 

But it’s eternal

Unable to be snuffed out

I stand tall by day

Overwhelmed and overburdened 

With the weight of my work

But it helps me hide 

The pain of your loss and all that came after

If I dwell on it, I begin to drown

Water rushing into my open mouth

Filling my nose

Sputtering panic with every breath 

Feeling the lure of succumbing 

Just because I have survived it

Does not mean that I am thriving 

I want to be ok

I try to be

Is there a choice?

I think about you all the time

The laughs, the tears and the adolescent rage

Wet kisses and bear hugs 

Tough as nails, always in charge

That apple didn’t fall far 

Orphaned, I feel so solitary 

Jealous of the parents others still have

And most sadly take for granted 

My child will never know you

But they will never forget your legacy 

Our relationships were complicated 

Nuanced and full of love

But also seething with a darkness 

A resentment for your poor choices

But more so, their impact on me

I wish I could have said goodbye

But both so steeped in obstinacy, of course I could not get my way

Instead laying bloodied in the grass

A fallen soldier not going gently

Hoping time and nature will heal my open wounds

The sun still rises

The loons call eerily through the night

The saddest of mourning songs, the piano man 

The cycle of life always churning

Butter. Eyes wide shut. Sleep.