"the young"

"the young"
written after an education by jake kilroy.

with heartbeat like a punk song
and a wit like fragile shards of glass,
i got educated in trivia nights at bars
before marching through offices
to see the pacific ocean.

i struggled in my youth,
as i thought philosophy was like a balloon,
meant to carry you away to see the big picture,
and it took me years to consider it a brick,
there to heavy your hand in an american riot.

what was great for the pope, i thought,
would be grand for the pauper,
but what good is silk to a starving man?

and that's when i started writing poetry.