Years – Written Approx. Late 1993 or January 1994 (Aged 18)

Years

I can see everything now,
but it is challenging
to like what I see.
I am getting closer to you,
and I am getting out alive
rather than dead.
It is difficult
to find the time to survive
when you have got
strange things in your head.
And I am starting
to realise
just how cruel
life can be.
It used to be good,
just being naive.
Now I am growing up
and finding it harder
to believe.
Whose sake
are we living for?
Is yours
or is it mine?
Choke on your holy wine,
because I do not see
a godhead—
I just see violence
on the streets,
and so many people dead.
It does not mean
much to me:
arguing over religion,
hating each other.
Get it together
or leave one another.
If only it were
that simple—
just, as a child,
it usually is.
Seeing justice done
is very rare
as you get older;
even if you do not care,
you know
all this
just gets stranger.

James Garratt – 1993/1994

More poems at
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/

More about this blog, The Boy Behind the Glasses, here
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/2020/01/08/the-boy-behind-the-glasses-an-introduction/

More poems from 1993 and 1994 here
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/category/poems-and-writing-1993/ https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/category/poems-and-writing-1994/