"Stop Overreacting"

"Stop overreacting."

"Be good."

"Be respectful of others. "

"Be nice,

for once."

"Stop crying."

"Don't be violent."

"Don't hit."

"Don't have a panic attack"

"Stop pushing away,

for once."

"Stop being such a teenager."

This would be easier,

to do,

if our young eyes

hadn't just opened up.

Seen life, and not just life.

Seen everything.

We were kept in the dark

and only knew the great

until shocked into the state

of being a teenager,

in a world that's falling apart.

Where Glaciers melt and People shatter,

Forests burn and Black Lives Matter,

Hurricanes thrash as confused Voices clatter,

and us, suddenly at the center of it all. 

To feel, suddenly,

the weight of the world as it begins 

to rely 

on us. 

Give us space,

to figure it out.

To free ourselves from shock.

Give us time, 

and when we figure it out,

we'll try to pass it on.