Reach for the Heavens

It’s so hard to believe you can reach the heavens,
When all you see when you look up is a hard ceiling.
They tell us to achieve our dreams no matter the cost,
They tell us to strive for what we want,
Yet they expect us never to stray from the majority.

An open road is laid at your feet,
They tell you to go,
Now you’re free.
But they only let you go after they’ve told you how frightening life is,
Only after they’ve guaranteed you’ll choose not to escape.

Twenty years after they’ve engraved the law and the government into your mind,
They say “now go and live your life,
You can do what you want as long as it’s what we want.”
As long as you follow our rules you’ll do okay in life.
But break our rules, and you will regret it.

No you can’t leave the country,
You don’t have a piece of paper legally stating you’re “safe”.
You can’t explore your world,
You could be carrying explosive material in your shampoo or have a foreign cold.
You have to stay here and do what we say.

My friends,
We’re told the human soul knows no boundaries,
We’re told that our imagination is where life truly lies,
We’re told of what an amazing thing life is,
We’re told how great it is to be alive.

So then why are their laws against everything?
Why are we expected to sit in cubicles nine hours a day?
We learn how unique our world is,
But then we’re told to write a 5000-word essay on the American Revolution.
It makes no sense in my eyes.

Perhaps I’m just a foolish child with no life experience,
But I cannot see what the point of living is,
When we’re expected to spend our short lives working.
No one thinks anymore about the true point of life,
No one stops to realize the beauty that surrounds us.

For an hour a day as children,
We’re allowed outside on our lunch breaks,
We’re given an hour to see what life is about.
Then we’re thrust back in a building for another six hours,
Shut off in a room with a couple of windows.

We all long for freedom of a kind,
All any of us want is to be who we are,
But we’re taught to want something different.
Instead of living for the value of love and happiness,
We live for the value of a dollar.

Forget the fancy new car,
Forget the mid-term next week,
Forget that business meeting tomorrow,
Forget the overdue bills,
Forget the job you’re late for.

Remember the fresh smell of the air after a rainfall,
Remember the hour of lunch during the day,
Remember daydreaming in the middle of class,
Remember the open road before your feet,
Remember that you can reach heaven if you try.