Between Us Poem by Suzanne Hayasaki

Meaning rises like a phoenix
In the space between us.
My mother's love for you
Raises me from the ashes
Of my own hopelessness
Into the realms of your
Yet untested nebulous potential.

Where I have dwelt on the decay,
You have raised your eyes to revolution.
Where I have despaired for the world I knew,
You have already moved into the future.
Light of foot, nimble of intellect,
Unburdened by the worries
Of a generation in denial
Of the havoc they have wrought
And the high ground they have ceded
As their greed ate away their idealism.

You may one day be standing in my place,
Overlooking the scorched earth of the machinations
Of the leaders you believed in and their paper promises,
But then again, your generation may learn from mine
And forge a new paradigm whose design my own blinders
Will keep me from seeing until it is one day all I know.

But for now, I will look into those fiery eyes,
So filled with a confidence that I know will fade
As reality invades and setbacks settle on your shoulders
Making you into a man who knows his limits
But seeks his greatest potential
Step by step, never giving ground
To the cynic within that whispers
To each of us to acquiesce
And accept the place we have slipped into.