Poet Christian Palacios, 16, is a sophomore at Whitney Young; he competed in Louder Than a Bomb 2011 representing his high school.

Villians gives Christian’s view on society as it is, and who is traditionally labeled a hero. He says it is ‘a type of social commentary on the way things are’. What do you think?

Though everyone knows the points are not the point – the point is the poetry – congratulations to Christian, who was selected as an Indy Finalist in the 2011 competition which celebrated over 600 young writers.

Villans by Christian Palacios

Let me tell you a story, of my little brother
And of a question that he was asked
And I begged his response to be anything other
But his answer left me slightly aghast

“What do you want to be when you get older?”
My grandfather inquired
And I was expecting a shrug of the shoulder
But my brother knew what he desired

“I want to be a super hero” he said
As he said it his voice dripped of pride
With his chest puffed out, he raised his head
And called “With truth and justice allied”

“I’ll rid the world of all of the bad”
“And replace it all with peace and love”
And hearing these words made me more then mad
These hero’s are what I’m sick of

I’ve had my fill of false hero’s
With their false pretense and such
Getting checks, filled with six zero’s
When they don’t do that much

Yeah, hero’s are widely adored
With the hope that they bring
Their lives filled with reward
Their names have a nice ring

But there is a reason why hero’s wear masks
For if one were to see their real face
Because going veiled somewhat lightens their task
And hides most of their unseen disgrace

You think that I’m wrong
Well then look to the preacher
He sings divine songs
And is a wise teacher
But there’s one thing I should mention

Though it may cause some tension
It involves the alter girl, Chloe…
You know what, forget it
Just forget I said it

But my point is that priests aren’t that holy
Look at the politician
A man on a mission
A mission to rid us of debt

But the man steals
Making backhanded deals
Dosen’t it make you upset?
And the football star

That drives around in his fancy car
Making passess left and right
He’s got style, looks, and height
Do you know how many pills he takes

His muscles grow, but his heart aches
And the rock star
Yeah, he can play the guitar
You probably assume he smokes weed

And all his meds got him only so far
The next day he’s dead, he OD’ed
All these are very inspiring stories
All of these hero’s and all of their glories

But between you and I
I’d rather be the villain
I like playing the bad guy
Cold, dark, evil, and chillin

Because hero’s are people like Phelp’s and Vick
Madolff, Blagodevich, they all make me sick
So I’ll be on the dark side
With nothing to hide

And when they all point thier fingers and ask why I did it
I’ll say “Yeah I’m evil, but at least I’ll admit it”
And then grandpa turned to me
And said as he waved his cane

“I hope you’re more sensible”
“Pick something more sane”
So I thought about some real world bad guys
A fiend, a truth destroyer
Someone that spits nothing but lies
“Hey gramps, I’ll be a lawyer”