by standing firm

who we are at the heart of this
is not vengeful
we are not ignorant
we are better than this
we don't have to shoot each other
to make a point
we don't have to watch
the television and decide
to base our lives on the
characters we see
we don't have to champion hate
and give into their expectations
we don't have to be so goddamn
                     predictable
we can accept our lot
and strive for something
                     better
we can ignore the masses
and be
                     individual
we can drop the game
before the bell sounds
and get on with it,
get over it and
above it
we can put down our weapons
and talk, communicate without
old dusty books telling us where
we come from
we can embrace a better education,
a better standard of living,
a better love
we don't have to look at illiterate
heroes to emulate them, to be like the
rest of the flock
we don't have to give in to their
expectations of us
we can grow, develop, denounce,
and redeem ourselves from this
we can embrace our curiosity
become brighter stars,
better humans for the sake
of future humans
goddamn it, we can grow
we can move past race
and bigotry
and tired explanations of
who we are
and where we originated from  
we can do away with old traditions
that bind us to obsolete lies
we can develop out
of this deranged state of being
where ignorance is bliss
we can see a flower
for a flower
we can see a human
for a human
we can live better lives
without ignorance
we can fit in by
standing out
we can move forward by
standing firm
we are better than this
if we would only try