this looks familiar

When you’re trapped

in a place you can’t escape,  

routines that never end,

drowning under piles of paper, 

with the deafening sounds 

of endless haunting expectations 

seeping through, 

piercing your ears, 

what do you do? 

What do you do 

when unmodernized stereotypes 

kill what could be?

Kill potential? 

It’s difficult to love

a place you’re taught to love, 

when nobody’s changed it. 

Nobody’s even blinked

about the differences 

between now and 

100, 200 years ago. 

When you’re trapped 

in a place you can’t escape, 

true talent is never unveiled.

It’s stuck, 

it’s burned, 

it’s expired, 

it’s lost.

Nobody wants to 

help you reveal it, 

nobody tries to 

help you reveal it, 

and once again, 

confined in a hopeless place

where vibrancy is nonexistent.

You’re to blame 

for your mistakes, 

your unhappiness, 

your dissatisfaction with 

unchanged, 

untouched, 

unrealistic expectations, 

that nobody lets you near, 

because they know 

how fragile they are, 

and they’re scared 

of losing their authority.

We’re not allowed 

to touch what’s been 

unchanged for so many years 

because nobody wants 

drama and everybody wants 

to be in control.

We could all go on 

to fulfill our dreams, 

and achieve things 

that seem unimaginable, 

if there wasn't an 

ancient roadblock 

that nobody able to 

is willing to move.

We could all go on 

to achieve our biggest goals 

if society didn’t 

force us into a place 

where we 

suffer under textbooks, 

dread waking up, 

and cry with our 

heads over desks.

Maybe we could all achieve 

our biggest goals, 

and live out our 

craziest dreams, 

if we were actually 

given opportunities 

and not just told 

we already have them.