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// Bad Things (poem) 
// Story: The Nocturnal Collection 
// by TheNocturnalLoner 
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Poems should not talk about bad things
They should talk about nice things
Like rainbows, gumdrops, and sugarplums
And describe a place where all animals have wings

A poem like that, would be to many ponies, fitting
But poems like that dull my senses and bore my mind
I'm too serious, too grim, to avidly enjoy a poem like that while I'm sitting
Why not talk about the bad things too? For in those, some truth you'll find

I have broken the biggest rule in our society
I have broken away and rejected conformity
I will talk and write about bad things
I will not write of sugary sweets

From our birth we have learned to be "normal" and assimilate
Some have found a way to be different, yet escape ridicule
Others stay within the crowd, then break away suddenly
For they have been individuals longer than anypony could guess

To the rest, my pity goes out to them
Turned into a mindless, easily manipulated drove
On the tree of conformity, these ponies form the mighty stem
The others are branches, to be lopped off and thrown to the stove

Before I'm lopped off and burned in the fire
I would like to fulfill at least one desire
I want to talk about the bad things
Like the evil things that lurk in the mire

I want to talk about the bad things yes I do
Even though they are bad, they are also true
Such things like poverty, starvation, war, and dying
Those who say they don't exist are lying

Do not be blinded by the candy-coated lies
Bad things are everywhere and need to be known
How else can they be addressed or solved?
Nothing is perfect under the world's endless skies

In the end nothing really matters
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
As individuals we are meaningless to the world
The world is harsh and uncaring, realize this we must

Nature is our greatest friend
But also our greatest foe
It gives us grief and woe
Then happiness round the bend

For some, the darkness of our world is too much
They tell themselves lies of perfection and peace
Creating a fantasy world of sugar and spice
While in reality, the world is not that nice

-Author unknown. Apparently a cynic of Equestria's supposedly utopian society.