The Golden Generation

This poem is cut into two different parts. It starts out in first person, but it soon turns to advice given to the general reading audience.

Why should I scare at the sight of my reflection?

Why should I balk at the beauty and perfection?

It's like I reach for someone else's complexion,

But I shouldn't see past my own reflection.

Who am I to judge the people of this world,

Wondering and watching at the sickness we've been hurled?

Who in their right minds should feel they are better

Than those who work and wonder to write their own letters?

Confessions to the deities (or whoever they believe)

Asking for a glimpse of peace, of relief!

Why should we perish at the slightest grain of doubt,

When darkness lies beneath and light is all around?

I have to remember.

Comparisons are made, it's true,

But no one will ever be like you.

Unique and glorious, it's right.

You have a reason to put up a fight.

Society can't touch you.

However, pain can crush you.

Rise above the expectations.

Be the golden generation.

Don't let them steal your light.

Don't let them swipe your thunder.

Keep your soul a-blazing

And forever let them wonder:

What keeps you going?

What keeps you alive?

There's nothing in this world for you,

So how do you survive?

Maybe it's the fiery spirit,

Maybe it's the alcohol.

Maybe it's the constant voice

Telling you to show them all.

Perhaps it's the well 

Of your pains and complications

That keeps you moving forward in life-

The golden generation.

Author's Note

Do you guys like the different rhyme schemes? What can I make better, and would you help me fix my punctuation if I made any mistakes? Thank you!!

Reviews

[ElizaB]

Thank you so much for entering.

I really enjoyed reading this. The strength and hope you convey is beautifully worded (as is the entirety of your poem) and I felt almost refreshed after reading it.

The rhyme scheme, enjambment, imagery and in fact just the overall flow of your work kept me interested, as well as the change of voice mid way through. I read it through a few times (as I try to do with all of my competition entrees) and yours has such power, so I thank you.

You highlight all the importance of being your own person, however frightening that may be. Sometimes it is beneficial for humans to look at things (and ourselves) through a different perspective, as it helps us to make better decisions than the ones we may have originally made.

[emipoemi]

This is empowering! This has a fantastically smooth musicality! This is practically poetic perfection..... The only errors are a couple in punctuation, and a couple in lines:

1. the semi-colon in the penultimate line would be better as a dash or comma (and the omission of "in life" would take away a bit of dead wood since "forward" already implies "in life", and the line would flow more smoothly as well).

2."There's nothing in this world for you" - this is a line that, judging by the colon at the end of the previous stanza, is supposed to be something that the world would wonder as you "keep you soul a-blazing". And since the first two lines of the stanza are singular and complete thoughts (and the fourth line could be viewed as a complete thought), the third line, despite the comma would be viewed as a complete thought as well (it not being a question would further prove it). If it's supposed to share a thought with the fourth line, then it would be best to clarify that with either an "if" in the third line or a "so" in the fourth" (the "so" would be better, though).

3. A combination of a punctuation and line note: "....those who write their letters?/Letters to the deities"..... as I continue through this stanza, I find that "of relief" is followed by a question mark, and, given that "write their letters" of the previous stanza is also followed by a question mark, making the "Letters to the deities" seem like a new thought that won't necessarily be a question, "of relief" by that question mark would end up meaning something along the lines of the poet not being sure whether they ask for relief as well (the break in stanza also adds to that impression, since stanza breaks tend to signify a new thought). So if this is a continuous thought, show that by omitting the question mark after "write their letters", and tie those thoughts together with an omission of the "letters" that begins the next stanza and adding an adjective to describe the deities in order to fill in the lost syllables and not mar the musicality.

That's it. Apart from that, this is perfect...the change in flow, in rhyme schemes - Brilliant! Were the musicality not be able to follow the switches, then it would have been problematic, but it does, and that's why this poem is great! Well done!