at the risk of talking about some-
thing that actually
matters

let me dive into these shallow waters that
we've been baptized in
by law

see, I'm not the only one who's drowning
though their feet touch
the bottom

yet am I the only one who would rather
breathe, than risk Hell
on earth?

because they teach us to say "no" to drugs,
and if their sex education is
crap, at least it
exists

but there is nothing to be said of what
it feels to be immersed in
and inured to
sorrow

to be so tired that sleep is but a mocking
imitation of the rest your
soul longs for

and to wake up every morning thinking
if only you could dream
eternally

we pride ourselves on a progressive
nation, but at what
cost?

there is no price to sanity, and no life was
saved by calculating y =
mx + b, no

the slope of this depression is not economical
either, it's only understood by the
steepness of my hunched
shoulders

and at the risk of talking about some-
thing that actual matters, I
pose this question:

which is easier, to see me drowning and to
scream, "learn how to swim!" or
to reach out a hand?

and then: which is right? these were the
answers that school never
taught me