Cultural Cruelty

picture yourself in a magical land
a living oasis in a desert of dead sand

when you were a child it was easy to be
lost in your life so innocently
till a shadowy stranger, awesome and gray
found your oasis and stole it away

they told you that time was made out of stone
if you had a dream you must dream it alone
the words of your teachers rang in your head
first you get older and then you get dead

cultural cruelty
how can that be
cultural cruelty

institutional demons devour
eternity broken into calendar hours
natural instincts driven to shame
till all that’s left of yourself is your name

it’s hard to remember the lay of the land
when there’s no room for a child in a woman or man
when youth is a threat to the rule of the age
and it’s all been reduced to a minimum wage

cultural cruelty
how can that be
cultural cruelty