We scroll and we scroll
On our mind, it takes a toll.
Swiping left and swiping right
Where to go next?
Our greatest plight.
We see the images of countries
We think are beneath us
“Poor them,” we say,
How will they ever reach us?
They live in huts like cavemen,
Scavenge for food,
Their culture is scary,
And their manners are rude.
They only know wars, between the Hutus and the Tutsis1,
Their ultimate devastation,
It screams of weakness
Only we can give them true exoneration.
As I step off my flight, and arrive in Nepal,
My mind is filled with these glittering generalizations,
These falsified myths about my nation,
Made by all generations.
I look for the huts,
The hunting and gathering
But all I can find
Is my own family, chattering.
Their welcoming arms,
Their very tight hugs,
The pollution and dirt caused by the Earthquake of 20152,
Is overlooked by their love.
It is quite different at first,
Some of the images rung true,
But as I travel the country,
I witness magnificent views.
Why are these valleys not showcased?
The mountaintops too,
Will our generation continue
A falsified truth?
The only saving this country needs
Is from the government itself
The corrupt rulers that exist here…
The horrible cards they have dealt.
Oh, but America knows that well…
As they call my food yellow
Point and laugh
How will our generation close
This overwhelming gap?
The pretenders won’t put aside
Their internal greed
Their need to mask privilege
With a few “good deeds,”
Will we continue to act
Like false words will change a thing?
Or show with our actions,
The importance of true human connection.
The path to education, as Malala Yousafzai3 has shown,
Or the call to action, that Greta Thunberg4 conveyed.
Or the power that Malcolm X5 demonstrated,
Which caused the fiber of the entire world to sway.

The ones before us
Came and went
Nothing changed,
Now our generation has to repent
I pray that we realize, in our time
The power of an action
Will change much more than words said for your
Own Satisfaction.

1 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13431486

2 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nepal-earthquake-of-2015

3 https://malala.org/malalas-story?sc=header

4 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/t-magazine/girls-women-revolution.html

5 https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/malcolm-x