Generation Y

This is a poem that I'm considering for the Slam coming up this week. Let me know what you think and if there are any editing comments you have. Thanks!

Generation Y

Inspired by Howl by Allen Ginsberg

I saw the best minds

Of my generation

Seeking something

Worth something

Trying to weed through

The trash in a world

Where anything

That you no longer

Need is trash

Trying to weed through

To find the treasure

I saw the best minds

Of my generation

Self-medicating

Swallowing their sorrows

In a shot of whiskey

A shot of Smirnoff

A shot of – is that alcohol?

Hand it over

I saw the sons

Of my generation

Desperately trying to fill

The male ideal

Doing massive feats

Of masculinity

To avoid the possibility

That they aren’t

Good enough

I saw the daughters

Of my generation

Poking and pulling

Changing and rearranging

Afraid to grow old

Hoping to fit

The Beauty Mold

The best minds

Of my generation

Are quietly destroying themselves

In search of something

Of interest

They are longing

For meaning

A significance that

Lies beyond the surface

They are trying

To build a world

Of their own

A brighter world,

A cleaner world

A better world

A world that will

Shatter the shallow

Expectations of

Our forbearers

and the naysayers

the ones who whisper

doubt about our potential

I saw the best minds

Of my generation

Waiting for a rebirth of wonder

Chasing after beauty and truth

And full of an unassailable hope