You're reveling in the gaieties.
You're celebrating the departure of childhood.
You've forsaken your innocence.
Once forsaken it can no longer be.
Old men and dogs die.
Children cry without laughter.
Clowns no longer make merry.
Music is no longer melodic.
Santa Claus is arrested for trespassing.
Sugar is no longer sweet.
Daddy will no longer catch you.
The Easter Bunny is now a fur-lined hat.
Is the freedom bitter, my friend?
What has this freedom caused you to forsake?
Stand in the way of yourself.
Old men and dogs die
because they have to.
Now you stare point-blank
down the neck of that bottle.
But you can stop it any time,
can't you?
Saturday morning cartoons no longer make you laugh.
You no longer believe in magic.
Mother's kisses don't heal your wounds.
You no longer jump into the piles of fallen leaves.
Chocolate sundaes can't brighten dark days.
Old men and dogs die.
Does independence sting, patriot?
That fire in your veins
is on your brain like fungus and fleas.
You're enslaved, revolutionary.

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