It’s only from the shoulders of giants,
That we can reach new heights,
As it is only from ignoring dead women and men,
Whose wisdom is waiting to be read,
That we can reach new lows.
And it shows.
Our willing, willful stupidity.

Will you listen to me? As weak and entitled,
As most everyone else, only now learning myself,
And seeing my lack, I’m trying to get back,
That hunger for knowledge that a factory education
Used up and dropped off their conveyor belt,
All because the hand I was dealt,
Wasn’t as pristine and perfect as
The upper crust pretended the lower was.

The dancer dies in the classroom.
The artist dies in the classroom.
The individual dies in the classroom.
Who benefits from all of this?
Sanctifying letters on:
a page, a grade
That simply says you memorized:
a fact, a date

They don’t care if you understand.
It’s about following orders, meeting demands,
To sit still and regurgitate,
Don’t rock the boat, don’t debate,
Don’t question, don’t negotiate,
That’s not their way to ‘learn’
That’s not their way to earn.
Schools churn out workers,
Happy to consume and obey,
To follow the status quo,
Ignoring debts they owe,
Because it is better to know
Celebrity names and tv shows,
Than war time heroes, current news, philosopher’s views,
Or third world sorrows, and another’s woes.
But that’s how it goes.

And I am ashamed to say
That I am the same.
Only now realizing I need to change.

It’s only from the shoulders of giants,
That we can reach new heights,
As it is only from ignoring dead women and men,
Whose wisdom is waiting to be read,
That we can reach new lows.
And it shows.
Our willing, willful stupidity.

Jessie Gutierrez