I can recall a time
when kids
as young as five
were throwing up
the middle finger
screaming profanities
a generation raised
by the Talmudivision

Or that other time
as a teenager
when I got a ride home
from a few friends
who stopped
a quarter mile
up the road
to ask an old man
for directions
only to pelt him
with rotten eggs
we weren’t taught
to respect our elders

My very first
French kiss
came at an early age
back then
our degenerate parents
use to forget about
the porn they left
in the VCR
after a long night of drinking

We use to smoke weed
with Tony’s mom
she claimed it was better
he smoked here
than risk getting
in trouble with the cops
and paying a citation

I remember
large bottles of wine
sucked dry
and screaming fights
that kept me up
as a preteen
my mother
was the first one
to feed me Xanax

And then one day
my family went from
dysfunctional
to torn apart
one bottle
of vodka too far
nobody suffers worse
than the children

Most of our youth
was spent in mischief
we lacked the tutelage
and guidance
of parents who were
nothing more than
absent consumers

Sure it wasn’t all
a complete and utter
nightmare then
though as parents
ourselves
it’s certainly better now

Solely because
we’ve learned
from their mistakes
along with our own
and chose not to
perpetuate the past
through the power
of resentment