Granddad came home from the war with a grin,
GI Bill house, two cars, three kids, amen.
Mom stayed home, Dad punched clock till sixty-five,
Told us "grind hard, son, that's how you stay alive."
But the factory closed when the '80s rolled in,
Now he's on fixed income watching Fox News spin.
Dad got the degree, got the starter home dream,
Two-point-five kids turned to one-point-three.
Divorce papers signed on the kitchen table,
Mom got the dog, Dad got cable.
He still says "pull yourself up" through a vape cloud haze,
While paying alimony till his dying days.
We were promised the world if we just stayed in school,
Walked out with six figures debt and a participation jewel.
Avocado toast memes while the rent eats the check,
Swipe right for love, wake up to a situationship wreck.
Cohabitating five years, ring never came,
Both too broke to marry, both too scared to blame.
Generations stacked with misery's weight,
Dreams delayed until it's all too late.
Boomers, Gen X, Millennials too,
Zoomers staring at a future that's see-through.
Fertility crashing, wombs on vacation,
One-point-six kids for the whole damn nation.
Therapists thriving, SSRIs on repeat,
Everybody numb-scrolling just to feel complete.
Grandma had bridge club, church potluck, neighbors who'd knock,
We got Discord servers and a Ring cam that talks.
Loneliness epidemic in 4K high-def,
Group chats full of "lol" while we derezz ourselves.
Kids raised by iPads, parents raised by fear,
"Don't talk to strangers" till nobody's near.
Playgrounds empty, swings covered in rust,
Helicopter moms turned into nobody I trust.
Traditions deleted like TikTok trends last week,
Nobody sings the old songs, nobody dares to speak.
Skin is scandalous, nipples get the ban,
But ads sell us pills for a ten-second man.
Risk is reckless, boldness is cringe,
Safe-space culture built on a syringe.
We forgot how to fight, forgot how to fuck,
Just doomscroll the end times and wish us luck.
Material comfort peaked, the graph went flat,
Bigger houses, smaller families, imagine that.
Fridge is full, the soul is bare,
Alexa play the sound of nobody there.
History's rewritten every other day,
So we don't remember there was another way.
Generations stacked with misery's weight,
Dreams delayed until it's all too late.
Boomers cashing checks they'll never spend,
Gen X quiet-quitting till the bitter end.
Millennials aging out of hope's last call,
Zoomers asking "was there ever hope at all?"
Gray wave coming, no one to push the chair,
Nursing homes bankrupting Medicare.
One child supporting four aging ghosts,
While the algorithm sells them vitamin boasts.
Birth rate's a bloodbath, diapers in decline,
Civilization's dying one timeline at a time.
So here's to the silence in a five-bedroom tomb,
Echoes of laughter that never left the womb.
We built the future shiny, sterile, and bright,
Turned off the lights,
And called it good night.