No to plagiarize Socrates

But I know

That I don’t know

And that’s something.

I grew up here

When the hate was quieter

I grew up here

When phones hung on walls.

We had our violence

Our rumor and spite

But it wasn’t hand delivered

To every person in the school

Our shame wasn’t posted on youtube

And watched in a huddle

Three desks down.

We knew things were Bad

Most of us dropped out

Fell into meth and handguns

Died in our best friends houses

After our parents kicked us out

But we didn’t carry every evil thing

In our pocket to look at.

We didn’t have it screamed at us.

We grew up and watched the world fall apart.

It’s been broken since you got here

When I was your age

“I’d take a bullet for you”

Was something you said to family or friends

Not something you had to calculate

Every time you walked into class

But I’m saying it here.

You deserve safety and hope and respect.

I’ll do everything I can

To give you that

And a chance to go out and fight

The dark we didn’t see coming

And I’d be honored

To fight it

Alongside you.