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VPR's coverage of arts and culture in the region.

Young Writers Project: 'I'm Sorry, But ...'

Hinesburg, Vermont, poet Layla Morris commits herself to the tough act of forming educated opinions and choosing to care.
YWP Media Library, photo by Lia Chien
Hinesburg, Vermont, poet Layla Morris comits herself to the tough act of forming educated opinions and choosing to care.

I’m sorry, but...
what are we teaching the kids these days?
Are we teaching them to go along
with whatever the most dominant person says?
Don’t have opinions, just move on, avoid distress?

I’m sorry, but…
that’s not going to work for me.
Why is it considered bad when someone states they have a side,
when they want to do or be one thing over another?
Does saying, “I don’t care,” “whatever,” and, “it doesn’t matter to me...”
make you the better person, the desired person,
more so than the one who actually knows what they want?

I’m sorry, but…
that just doesn’t seem right to me.
Why is it good not to have a preference?
I’m always told that I care too much,
and find myself always trying not to care.

I’m sorry, but...
remind me again why I don’t want to care?
Why is that wrong, and bad, and strange, and different?
Why do people think it’s so unheard of,
how much everything matters to me?
Shouldn’t we all be encouraged to care?

I’m sorry, but…
if young people aren’t learning to have opinions,
how will we ever become the next generation of voters?
What are we going to do in this country?
I’ll tell you what we’ll do, if we don’t step up:
absolutely nothing.

We don’t know how to express an opinion
because we’ve never learned how to care.
 

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