2022-2023, Poem

Heroism Is Dead

Heroism Is Dead
Katie Thornton, '26

Men on earth thrive on it
People describe others with it
Perform acts of goodness or even acts of evil around it
But no one really knows the true meaning of it
There are textbook definitions about it
But no one really knows
Soldiers die to gain this simple word
People give their hope for this word, their love, desires, bliss ,dreams, laughter, happiness
When will we stop sacrificing our souls and our minds for words that mean nothing
For once it’s gone what will we have to use and what will people who gave their lovers, sons, and daughters gain 
from this
we lead them our sympathy to use as armor
because you say they know what they got themselves into when they signed up for this meaningless word
legend , protector, bravery can describe it,
Heroism stems from the word Hero
Heroism isn’t just one word
It’s many words with many meanings for different people
But by itself it can be defined in many ways but it can also come with a lot of weight
Good and Bad
Positive and Negative
Terrorists descibe themselves as Heroines
Bombing school houses, buildings, roads, homes
But for us heroism is what we use to describe us fighting for injustice
Right ?
And us bombing other people for the greather good of our country isn’t consider terrorism
But when it comes down to it when we actually go through it because we blindly believe that did something wrong when they probably didn’t ,it’s justifiable and right but when another country tries to do it it’s act of treason
when someone
Commits arson, murder, or death by gun fire
some may say that’s deem as heroism
And the sad part is that they do it just to get the glory but
The human race
Being as stubborn as it is thinks this is the best way to get what we want
And
we
don’t
Care
Who gets harmed in the processes
We walk around everyday wearing pride on backs
Because we think we’re superior then one another
Russia thinks it’s better than ukraine
China thinks it better the america
And America thinks it's God
The government is classified as savers armed soldiers ready for battle
But it always makes decisions with blinders on
Honestly I don’t think the government has made one choice that had nothing to do with but gaining nothing but
more power
We think that our government isn’t as bad as the governments in russia of china or india
But we are I mean we’re just way better at hiding it
Our government rules off of fear and intimidation
It’s not as bad as the others but it’s not better
And others governments are just cold blood killers
What makes it worse is that they say that they care about our opinions but the first chance they get, they just
disregard us like we’re nothing
So I guess in this moment I have to say is thanks for serving our country
I mean that’s what we should say right
I mean you have always had our best interest at heart
Like a mother protecting their children
Oh wait you don’t actually take care of us like our children because you can’t even take care of our children because
everyday their getting
Sluder everyday but your worried about the children who don’t even exist yet
So I guess we should bow down to the almighty american government
But you will never deserve our respect as citizens of this country you lose that a long time ago
Even though we say all of this in the backness of our minds we used the excuse the government is corrupt but when
you actually think hard enough it’s our fault because we screwed it up to began with
I mean we go to war every day if it’s not real war or it’s a political one a political one
It’s a never ending cycle from triumph to vengeance to
Apocalyptic unholy chaos to the innocent virtue of an unborn child
If the government has enough time to take power away from on another they should have enough time to care
about the people they call themselves protecting from the big bad outside world
They Shoot one another because their leader just wants to see bloodshed and killing little kids in the cross hairs
because they forget that their americans to even if their from another country they’re still as american as us
But still they force 8-16 year olds kids to join their war but it’s not even theirs to fight
People of the world say that terrorist are the bad ones
Well take a look around
We’re the ones who created the unseemly beast but we have too much pride to admit it
A Couple of them were believers of the government once
I but they were once those little kids you see in commercials dancing in the rain not care about a thing like they
were floating on air
But as they grew their light started to dim because they saw their government fail there people time and time again
So unfortunately they took matters into own hands
They claim it as just using what the gods of the universe gave them
I’m not saying the way their try ing to get their voices and point across is right
I’m saying that maybe for once we just listen to what ever dumb founded idea they have and take it in to
consideration even if it’s dumb
Just for once in our messed up lives can we act what we were made to be
Human
Think about that innocent child we damned by labeling them as a terrorist
Because for they once had names and some what normal lives
Until it went crashing down under all the weight that they shouldn’t be carrying because the government should be
doing better
Caring more than anyone person standing in a crowd
And they should be getting suffocated by you or anyone else they should be the ones worry about the people where
supposed t be protecting
That isn’t fair to them and it isn’t fair to us
And they shouldn’t be defined as such a word that will follow them for the rest of their lives
And honestly we should be the ones to judge
Considering all we have done in the past
Do we not remember the phrase we the people I mean we created it in our most hopeful of times
It’s like all of our memories of the past and how we overcame them have been forgotten just how we forgot that
we’ew suppose to be fighting together and against
All it takes is one action
One crack
One pivoting point of a person, a place or phrase or thing to change it all
All the pain, loneliness, suffering
There has to be a stopping point right?
I mean I guess we should leave it too the professional
The heroines of our stories
The ones that has more heroism than anyone
Ah it all comes back to the word heroism again
After all of this do still think heroism is good word to describe someone
My opinion this word is empty
It means nothing and it always will
Nothing it’s a thing made up with letter from the alphabet
A word that men feel greatly about themselves to live up expectations put on them by the world
And if they fail to live up to it there a failure as a men
All this word cause is
Self-deprecation, pride, comparison, unbelievable standards
This word is despicable
This is how I view and think this word when it rears it’s ugly head
Listen this is just a generalization of what this word is
Don’t go around say this word to someone without considering the repercussions
Of saying it
But hey you don’t have to listen to me I’m just a fourteen year old after all