I don't understand.
Which of these
Do you believe?

That your life is perfect
And contains no suffering?
Or that you've imbibed superpowers
That can shield your genes
And your future offspring
From harm, from lies, from pain?

Either you're high on hubris
Or you're sorely misinformed
If you think the world will change
In 20 years
Or that you've become omnipotent
In 30.

So pray, enlighten me.
How do you make the choice
To bring forth this sanctified
Fruit of your loins
Into a cold hard world -
Knowing it will suffer,
It will blame you for life,
It will want to check out
But will be trapped
By the mad senseless love
Of a child for its parent?

Is it to pass on the baton
Of the shame you face each day,
The burden of not being able
To erase the pain
Of your parents' failure?

Or is it to make whole
By taking from a pure gullible source
That hole in your emotional pocket
From love spurned or rationed low?

Is this what we must all do?
Pass on the pain
And place the weight
Of inherited great expectations
Onto the next generation?

And call it love, call it hope,
Call it parental faith,
Call it optimism
Or maybe a renewed lease
On the dreams we now know
Will never materialize?

Well, take my name
Off that list.
I know when my game is up
And I know it's not a relay race.
It may be a marathon
That I'm quitting halfway,

But atleast it's my marathon
And when I plead mercy,
Only I feel the pain
Of a world that goes on grinding,
Until I'm only dust.

I don't grab little hands
And force them to twist with me,
Bend them out of shape
Long before they realize -
They're at the start
Of their own marathon
They don't even know
They're too winded to run.

You may think I'm dumb
And maybe you'll never realize
That it's not me,
It's you - who
Through your ignorance
Or willful cruelty
Bring into life
Something pure,
Only to be sullied.