We were told

We were told that we love the effortless, comfortable life,

that constant comfort made us emotionally vulnerable and weak inside,

that our fragile hands and fragile minds

are not enough in these times to truly survive.

We speak too much, we laugh too loud,

we dream far beyond what we’re assigned.

And if that’s chaos in their fearful eyes,

maybe that creative chaos once built all their minds.

We say “Why?” more often than ‘Yes, of course!”,

but not in rebellion without a cause.

‘Cause we are not hopelessly lost, just finding paths

through some storms you’ve never had to pass.

We keep giving relentlessly more and more,

just for reaching some lofty standards made by a bore.

Still, the “I’m proud of you, son” remains something uncommon,

it’s a never-ending cycle. It never stops, we all know.

We are not worse than those before,

we’re learning how to claim our authentic, unfiltered voice.

We’re evolving through unfamiliar ways,

in these disorienting, ever-shifting days.

So, don’t just judge the surface you behold,

for every generation was once deemed fragile and uncontrolled.

Still, we are still here, with our fragile hands and frail minds,

to finally make it enough to survive in these times.

Székely Rebeka   IX. R