our birthright

this is your birthright: 
scientists are predicting the end of glaciers; 
a flood, like the kind the church pastor says, 
only there's no noah to provide deliverance
no God to assure you of a redemption. 

this is your birthright: 
your teacher advises the class to 
"get the hell out of dodge"
'cause they don't see any future left 
for the generation they've been paid to raise. 
your friends agree. american government, 
they say, is at the pinnacle of its downfall. 

this is your birthright: 
you have grown up in wildfires and blizzards and hurricanes 
in a world where a falling tree-branch can leave you an orphan 
in a life where a virus some people still claim is a hoax 
has left you robbed of a grandfather
you thought you still had time to know. 

this is your birthright: 
a world collapsing into itself 
and you, who they say must mend it, 
as if it's an honor to save the world.