Promises, Promises

As kids we're asked
What we want to be when we grow up
And whatever the answer -
That's our goal.
Our dream.
It's a promise
That we will succeed.
Only.
As we age,
we slowly come to the realization
That they lied to us.
That they took that promise
And with their money
And their war
And
Their greed
They broke it.
They took a future from us
And even when we know
When we speak up,
They reflect it back onto us.
Tell us how they managed to succeed
In a world so much different
Than what they passed down to us.
In a world where the earth didn't cry.
Where money wasn't worth less
Where the minimum earning
Could serve a family of three.
Where the cost of an education
Could be earned during
A short summers work.
Those who gave us hope
Now yell accusations at us -
We're lazy!
We want pass outs!
We aren't willing to work for anything!
Only -
We're working two to three jobs,
Eighty hours a week,
While we're in school,
Learning to be this thing -
This dream
we've had all our lives.
We're in debt because we
Wanted to learn
Because
We had to learn.
Because if we didn't
Delve into a game of massive debt
We'd be out of it -
The game,
The promise.
But even our debt is
A force of debate
Because it's not necessary.
We could have gone straight to work
But that's what we did
We work
And we learn
And we work
Because that's all we can do
It's not even what we love,
Not the dream.
Because the dream won't sustain
A healthy life.
We are a generation
Of generalized anxiety
And all we want
Is to make the world better
To fix what's been broken
But those who came before us
They laugh in our faces
Because this world
Wasn't meant for their promise.
They never intended
Our success.