Student Poetry Compilation: “Cracked Complex,” “Gen Z,” and “United at Stake”
Illustrations by Randazzo.
Chloe Randazzo ‘23 shares a compilation of socially aware poetry from her 2021 collection “Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia.”
“Cracked Complex”
Welcome to the place that’s perceived to be full of good
Product is damaged goods
Feeding the cycle with falsehood as you believe it should
Say that it’s for our own likelihood
Your perverted game is a hellish normality
A sadist whose torture is a psychological fatality
Chained to a post-apocalyptic reality
Destruction instead of reconstruction is one of many harmful strategies
Set fires just to watch the world burn
While we’re already gasping for air
Swallowing smoke as it gets harder to breathe
"Gen Z”
The most racially diverse generation
The most ethnically diverse
The most well-educated generation
The most global, social, visual, technological
The most connected, sophisticated, accepting, influential
The most unique, different, individual
The most creative generation
Fighting for equal representation
Demanding change in the nation
Opinionated but complacent
The most instant gratification generation
The most anxious and depressed generation
The most selfish generation
The most impatient generation
The most influenced generation
The most irrational, ignorant, impulsive
Hate spewed conventions
Destructive divine intervention
Fill with self hatred and harm
“United At Stake”
The world is on fire
It’s turning to hell
Pandemics and Protests
Corruption as well
Land of the free?
But so many people are numbing themselves
Sometimes reality feels like a jail cell
Empty and blank
And we really do have society to thank
For most of our mental issues that sprout and take shape
When problems and outbreaks
Disasters and plagues
Affect us as a country
No matter how vague
We find community
In togetherness we partake
Integration we flourish in
Taking on fear at point blank
In God we trust
United we stand
Ignoring class ranks and the chain of command
Groups for the greater good provide a helping hand
We need to address and understand the crises at hand
Gain the upperhand over those who make the world a wasteland
Need to join with others from different homelands
The US isn’t the only one out of hand
