To defy or tranquilize   Pretense to   assimilate   Normalized till accepted   Caution falls to attrition   Keep my head   above the surface   Holding on against the current   Raise the glass to crown the   heights   To accelerate   Inhale the easy answer   The burning embers   wait   Traverse the gateway   In a haze of smoke   Hits to pills until    No other   way to cope   Rendered Lifeless   Keep my head above the surface   Holding on   against the current   Rivers of toxins   Dragged under and down   Caught in a   torrent   Until they disappear   Warnings fall on deaf ears   Fractured lives   slowly break   Wounds and scars last for life   Ruins left in their   wake   Repulsed by all that I see   Waves break over me   Everlasting   loyalty   Straight Edge in contrast   To the conscious corpses   That drift   lifeless past   Keep my head above the surface   Straight edge against the   current.