Our Generation by Carl Dennis

Our Generation

Whatever they say about us, they have to agree

We managed to bridge the gap between

Those who arrived before us and those who’ve followed.

We learned enough at the schools available

To fill the entry-level positions at the extant sawmills

Our elders managed, at banks, freight yards, and hospitals,

Then worked our way up to positions of trust.

There we were, down on the shop floor

Or up in the manager’s office, or outside the office

On scaffolds, washing the windows.

Did we work with joy? With no less joy

Than people felt in the generations before us.

And on weekends and weekday evenings

We did our best to pursue the happiness

Our founders encouraged us to pursue

And with equal gusto. Whatever they say about us,

They can’t deny that we filled the concert halls,

Movie houses, malls, and late-night restaurants.

We took our bows onstage or waited on tables

Or manned the refreshment booths to earn a little extra

For the things we wanted, the very things

Pursued by the generations before us

And likely to be pursued by generations to come:

Children and lawns and cars and beach towels.

And now and then we stood back to admire

The colorful spectacle, the endless variety,

As others before us admired it, and then returned

To fill our picnic baskets, drive to the park,

And use the baseball diamonds just as their makers

Intended they should be used. And if we too

Crowded into the square to cheer the officials

Who proclaimed our country as fine in fact

As it is in theory, a few of us, confined to a side street,

Carried signs declaring a truth less fanciful.

A few unheeded, it’s true, but no more unheeded

Than a similar few in generations before us

Who hoped that the truth in generations to come,

Though just as homely, would find more followers.