Spiral

Read stories, they say.

About true love and happy endings.

Watch movies, they say.

About heroes and laughter.

Listen to elders, they say.

About the past and the future.

They say, they say, they say.

But why do they never tell us?

About the grief in the joy.

About the hate in the love.

To protect us. 

To keep us golden. 

To save us from the world. 

But we don’t want saving.

We want to be set free

When we’re free, we finally know.

That villains exist. 

That time is uncontrollable. 

That they were trying to hide the pain.

The truth we never knew,

is that the world is pain.

Life can be painful,

but it’s also beautiful .

Read stories, they say.

Because they set an example of love.

Because they remind you happy endings exist. 

Watch movies, they say.

Because they show that heroes can be real.

Because they bring happiness.

Listen to elders, they say.

Because they have known time longer than you.

Because they have made mistakes too.

They don’t try to protect us.

They don’t need us to stay golden.

They aren’t trying to save us.

We don’t need saving.

We want to be set free. 

They’re trying to set us free.

But letting go is hard.

We will do it too, 

To the next generation.

Tell them to read stories,

watch movies,

and listen to us.

-Myra Almeida