My Generation was to fling it all away

My generation was to fling it all away

 Pick it up from our homes,

 Collect it from our classrooms,

Every filth there was,

 We were to burn it up

Leave no trace

Light a fire

Mark the mistakes

 The previous generations made

They invented the nuclear bomb,didn’t they?

They watched as Japan erupted in flames

They couldn’t stop Vietnam

Their silence bought by statistics

 Or just plain indifference.

I judged them,

 Like any child would,

 Judged them harshly some might say

So sure that we wouldn’t go their way

 So sure that we would have some sense

 If not sense, than a bit of good blood

 Running in our veins

That money alone

 Wouldn’t steer our life

That we wouldn’t do drugs

 Just because everyone else did

Wouldn’t pick up fights

 Just because it was cool

That just because we had it good

 Doesn’t mean we stop working hard

 Because talent alone can’t get you far

 I thought we would say no to war

That we wouldn’t let little girls get raped

 At least agitate, disagree

 Do our part.

 Not squander away our lives

 In front of television and computer screens

Perhaps speak a few kind words

 To the old man who sits alone in the park

Not stand aside when the bully hits a child

Not let someone be unfairly punished

Not let communal riots

Take deep root in our hearts.

Or am I asking too much?