Pending by Maisie Rozzo, Long Road Sixth Form College

We are left in pending, paused and waiting,

too young to speak for ourselves.

Suddenly

On the mid teen track,

We are dumped on cold tarmac

And told to crack on.

Trawl our bodies through rubble

Scrape our knees on walls

Heave our limp limbs through our mundane lives,

Told “everything is alright,

Don't be foolish,

Knuckle down

Get a Job!”

I’m wearing 3D glasses.

Seeing reality has become a superpower.

Your eyesight is so bad,

Can’t you see the crippling storm on the horizon?

Heck… it’s even raining on us.

Can’t you feel it?

It’s acid turning you toxic, thwarting your vision.

Your senses are numb,

Your glasses are rose tinted.

Creating fantastical illusions.

Boxed in your reality show.

You ask me what I want to be?

And the only thing that goes through my mind is the slideshow of disaster, chaos, havoc, turmoil, catastrophe and tragedy.

Alive?

No matter how I put it,

No matter how you portray it,

It will always be the same.

You are frying us with the taste of our own medicine, CO2, our daily dose.

No stronger prescription can remedy the scene.

The screen is shattered

It’s time to guide the blind into the blurry skyline

Picking up the shards of a distorted perception

We switch off and stride.