growing up when we did
raised
by grandparents too tired
to do the whole dance again
ill equipped for the outside
inside generation with dual
imaginations fueled by the 
deep green hollows and moss
lined streams in the shade
of an unforgiving sun
with the growing infinite space
access through CRT monitors
and 14.4 mbs modems 
where we could tinker with code
and hardware 
like our fathers before us
leaned over and down into hoods
doing whatever they did
those long hours to the engines

our future was a black and pink
neon sky  with a blood orange sun
illuminating an endless road 
leading to some new place 

but something went wrong somewhere
and here we are
with less than our forefathers
pretending that we’re all just fine
sending our kids to school
staring at thier backs 
as they walk away 
knowing that it might be
the 
very 
last 
time
we see them alive

no one I know around here
got thier burning hot summer
with a promise threaded tight 
by a group of friends
doomed to split with age

the cards fell a different way
and none of us learned much
except that our parents
would never be like those
we watched on television

some of us have made it this far
thinking that if we try something new
that the story will change
knowing full well
that no matter what
the odds were never in our favor
and the ending is always the same
short, bad, and without dignity