Our Generation Poem by Sahra AlShamiry

Welcome to our generation.
Where we engage in politics through twitter.
Picture our dreams on Instagram
Share our stories on Snapchat
We are the ones you tell to get our eyes off the screen...
Only to look up to see the world is staring down at us.
We are the so called ignorant, spoiled and thick
just because we challenge authority and demand change.
We are the Palestinian protesters
Politics activists outside Westminster
and Tottenham rioters.
We are the Russell Brand revolutionaries.
Sons and daughters of che
We are the ones who know that there are things missing from our history textbooks
but we are taught it is better to stay silent than it is to make others feel uncomfortable.
So we stayed silent.
We are the generation constantly being asked "what did you learn at school today? "
Keep your hand down.
Don't ask too many questions, you're slowing the class down
Keep silent
Don't make a sound.
So we became the generation that seeped away
in the silence of classroom walls
that came caving in on us.
Don't tell me "No Child is Left Behind"
From a young age were forced to put our dreams to bed
and settle for less
Now i'm trying to catch and save myself from falling down that very same road
there's nothing wrong with making an honest living
but are you honestly living?
I speak a language of metaphors
In my head, ideas kiss similes so deeply
I continue to write my prayers in my poetry
Hoping that one day
They will listen.