Jennifer Lavoie
Between Generations
We read about Borrowed Time
and Metaphors better left unsaid,
of Dancing on the Moon,
isolation,
and Angels in America.
We read because we come from a generation
born at the crossroads.
We read because we do not know,
do not remember,
did not lose friends, family,
lovers.
We try to imagine a world
where friends cannot get medication,
where no help exists,
where a silent government looks on,
where giants fall to Earth
as dreams fail and stars burn
from fevers brought on by sickness,
but cannot.
We stand in the middle,
in the shadows of those lost before us,
and look ahead to the next generation
further separated from the crisis and wonder:
Do they feel invincible?
Jennifer Lavoie is an English teacher and author of four young adult novels with LGBT protagonists including Andy Squared and The First Twenty, published with Bold Strokes Books. She lives in Bristol, Connecticut.
This poem is not previously published.