Marty Schoenleber's "Push" can be found on www.youtube.com along with his other poems, like "Propane Poet" and "Duhpreshun".
Schoenleber's whole poem is a beautiful example of the pressure put on people, particularly youth, to be successful in life. At one point Marty says "If you saw me as I was supposed to be, the contrast between me and the rest of the world would be unbearable. But I'm incapable." This line really speaks to me, about what we want to be and we're expected to be, and what it feels like when you can't reach that standard. Those around us set the bar higher and higher, and often times we as individuals set that bar higher ourselves. There's a lot of pressure to do well in school, and get a job, and go to college to make something of your life. Everybody wants that to a degree, but there's so much pressure to do that, that it feels as if you're a failure if you can't perform.
Schoenleber's line in "Push" gives a nod of encouragement towards those who don't believe in themselves, and those who are considered "average" in what they do: "This is for the second place finishers and the C students. This is for the guitar strings never threaded and the scripts never written and the throw voices that never cried hallelujah because they didn't believe they could. This, is for the incapable"
I hear stories all the time about famous people who started out with nothing and worked their way to the top, wherever that may be. The rags to riches concept is popular but puts too much pressure on a younger generation to grow up to be something..monumental. Kindergarten kids are told they can grow up to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, or even the president, and they are encouraged to do so. But this is where things get tricky. There's a line between support and pressure, and it seems people in America tend to have one foot on each side. Some parents say "You can get a better grade than this" and it goes two ways - the first is that they believe in you, the second is that they expect you to do better and feel that this is not enough, which translates into: You are not enough.
Living up to a standard is something we all want to achieve, but when it makes some kids unbearably stressed because they spend so much time studying, it's gone too far. Marty's poem is speaking to those kids who are pressured to get a 4.0 by their parents, who feel if they get a 3.5 it's the equivalent to an 'F'. It's for those who are laid off, or don't get into college, or don't WANT to go to college. Society may have expectations but you aren't a defect if you choose to, or cannot stand up to said expectations. There's nothing wrong with average, and this poem preaches that in a really powerful and inspirational way.
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