Tyler
His emotions rollercoastered
Up and down, in a loop
Unable to see the next turn
I was there
He simply said “It’s nice having friends”
And I bursted into tears
Not realizing how true
It is
He felt the person he was could never be loved
I felt the just the same
Violent, hurt, hateful, alone
Rock bottom pushed all of it to the surface
Then things changed
I was no longer time
But a better version of myself
One who understood pain can go away
A smile can come back
And be real when thought impossible
I cut myself like their words cut my soul
I was reckless hoping something would crash
I swallowed pills, one after another
Blocking the ability to feel anything
Then someone said it’s okay
Even though they saw all the bruises
They hugged me despite the rugged surface
Not pulling away; squeamish
From my tears running down their shoulder
Knowing the darkness that surround me
They held my hand and pulled me along
Wanting me to fight
When I gave up years ago
He kept moving because of friends
That forced him to believe it was worth it
And I felt the same
From people i was surprised knew my name
So thank you to those people
Who played sports when I played hookie
Who did cheer when I gave out drugs
Who got A’s in class while I swallowed another color
Who went home to families while I went nowhere
They still learned my name and looked past my hateful voice
Knew my past and somehow still believed
That who I was wouldn’t last
They took a chance on me
Proving beings friend, no matter how different, can change everything
This character resembled so many things of what happened in my life and a dark part of me I lived with for years. Thank you to this character for showing it does get better.