It's a sad old ****** Sunday
When men walk in suits,
With solemn faces in the cold wind
Tears flow down the elderly's wrinkled faces
And their hands shake
Women hold the hands
Of their whispering children
The long droning speeches are said
All is said and all is done
The poppies are placed
Everyone stands in silence
Then walks home in whispers
Paper poppies on their coats
Waking through
Freezing Autumn leaves
We walk inside our homes
We hear church bells chime
Like the ones at the funerals so long ago
We take off our coats
Leave them around
We lie in bed and sleep
We get up the next day
When all is said and done
And life goes on
Except not for the dead
And not for the ones
Who witnessed death

I am shocked, shocked I tell you
Stunned is what I am!
I can't complete a sentence
Without a stutter or a stumble

My hand is shaking
There's tears in my eyes
I can't stop thinking in my mind

So many words are cluttered
In my brain
In my heart and soul

I want to let those words out
Cry them, scream them
But I can't
I can't without the hate
I can't do without the opposition
I can't without the homophobia
And the words I cannot repeat
To the ears of the youth

The result of that is sadness
Sadness for me
For my spirit and my sanity
They think I'm crazy
Nutty, mad, bananas
But I'm not alone

I'm sure others are mad
Maybe madder than me
Probably sipping tea
Coffee, water or milk
Maybe eating what I eat
Maybe saying what I say

I'm only able to express them
Explain them all here
No one hates
No one fights
No one laughs
No one taunts

We cry the same tears
We speak with the same voice
We have different opinions
And express them differently
But we have similar thoughts....

Oh!
There goes my wondering mind
Shocked again by what I thought
Stunned, yes that's what I am

" don't tell anyone. " she whispered and clung to my hand.

" I would never. " I responded and sealed the deal.

She came to school seven days ago with bruises, marks and scars.
But she hides them so that only I can see them.

Six days ago I discover her father has gone mad
Becuase he lost his job and suddenly turned bad
He drunk the devil's drink and often hollered with rage
At his daughter who couldn't do a thing

Five days ago her mother died
Of a broken heart
She couldn't take the pain
And let her daughter have it all

Four days ago her funeral was empty except for us
Her father with bloodshot eyes
And smelling of alcohol

Three days ago my loving mother asked " is everything ok? "

I smiled saying it was fine but nothing was ok.

Two days ago she said " I just can't take it anymore.
He's hitting me and hitting me with everything he got "

Yesterday I last saw with tears in her eyes
But didn't listen when I said everything will be alright

Tonight my father knocked at my door
My mother is sobbing on the kitchen floor
He said with a cracked voice that she killed herself last night
She said

" thank you for everything
But I can't take it anymore.
Just live your life and forget about me
Just like everyone else did
Tell the teachers I won't be coming to school today
My homework isn't done
And my work is all gone
Tell everyone in school to not worry about me
I'll be in heaven or hell soon
But I don't know which
I'm running out of room to write
And I just want to say
Remember to speak up someday
Cos silence isn't always golden "

Men and women around the globe
Mothers, grandmothers and aunts
Fathers, grandfathers and uncles
All parents from all over the world
I have written this poem to state
Simple facts about children
That have been dismissed
With a wave of a hand
Or ignored with a turning of heads

Children sometimes need space
Don't tell them to socialise
All of the time
They need a break
Just to be on their own
They don't need to do things
All of the time
Sometimes they want to rest
Or to simply do nothing

Don't go at them about everything
Sometimes they can't help it
Things can be unpredictable
Like hurricanes or death
Help them when they need it
Not every time
They'll never know how to do it
All on their own otherwise

How do I know this?
I am a child
I was a child
I will always be a child
I know that you need space
That you need a break
That you need to have an escape
From the world sometimes

I'm running through a forest
Being chased down by guns
The owners of these weapons
I can't be caught be them now
In the grasp of death
Left for my blood to soak the floor

Words cannot hurt can they?
Then why do they feel like rocks
Shattering the silenced glass
Or a gunshot in the air
And a bullet through my heart.

I'm still running
Snap snap
The branches snapped beneath me
Snap snap, snap snap
They're getting further away

The gunshot is sounded
I fall to the ground
And roll under a bush
Hidden from the world
My only space of peace
Invaded by war

Here in this little tale
That I am going tell
Is a simple scenario with three main roles
Starring
A bully, a victim and a bystander

The victim is walking down the hall
And thinking about his life
He lost his father in the lake of sorrow
While his mother fell off it's bridge

The bully is being abused
Which is giving him an excuse
To roam the halls like a prison warden
Or a ghost in a haunted home

The bully sees the victim
They catch each other's eye
An evil glare comes out of the bully's eye

The victim tries to escape
Yet he's caught before he can
And now blood is dripping down
upon the hallway floors
The victim is screaming ****** ******
And begging for mercy
The bully laughs and hits him harder
No remorse or regret

What's the role of the bystander?
Does he run for help?
Does he call out for a teacher?
Does he run and save the victim?
Does he do a thing?

The sad answer is no
He only stands there and stares
More heartless than a body
Made of solid stone

Will you be the victim's hero?
Will you help him out?
Will you join the bully's side?
Will you beat him up?
Will you be a bystander
and not do a thing?
It's up to you
You decide

Who are you going to be?
The hero, the bystander or the bully.

Mummy said bad things today
She screamed until she coughed and choked
I don't know why she does those things
And ignores her only child
Daddy hit me hard today
He send me stumbling to my bruised knees
I don't know why he does those things
And hurts his only child
Those kids hurt me at school and ripped my drawing of pain
Into tiny pieces
Why do they do those things
To a humble child?
The teacher never listen
They don't care if I'm dead or alive
I wonder how they'd feel
If their student shot themselves tonight?
If a child died they'd come running
But they'd never come running to me.

Mother Nature is watching
These humans wasting her magic
Burning it
Cutting it
Wasting it away

She wants it used for good
For the children to play with
For the homeless to have homes
For humans to breathe away
At the luxury of her air

BUT NO
IT WILL ALL BE GONE SOON
ALL BECAUSE
OF
YOU

Three pyramids
Three stars in the sky
Is that not strange?

What mysteries are
Hidden in the sands
By the ancient ones?

Who helped them up?
How did they go so high?
In the night time sky?

Did the River Nile
Guide them here safe and sound?
How did they float up?

So many questions
But the right time comes
They are unanswered

you See Them everyday
but you
don't say
a woRd
just A hello
good morNinG
aftERnoon, evening
some have
hIdden knives
in pockets
some could be kind
some mAy
be drinking the
devil's drink
or sneaking looks
maybe
they don't
look
barely a GlancE
maybe
they can't see
you
or heaR
your
greeting or
farewelL
maybe they
are
artists, painters
a
predictor Or
an animal
a sad
sOul, a happy
spirit,
a serious soldier
a helper
a student, a
gunman
who will **** milliOns
bUT that
doesn't matter
you won't
see him or her again

I see him on the screen of the TV
As the bold headlines
Of the newspapers flash
"MAN CAUGHT AFTER ATTEMPTED ******
LAST FRIDAY NIGHT"
As a victim's heart took a final beat

The outraged look on the reporter
Says she's mad but she can't say
And the media is screaming
"HOW DARE HE?"
It was an innocent human after all
But was it worth it?

I'm flicking through the article
Says the murderer was imprisoned
Spending the rest of his life
Stuck behind bars in a prison yard

" he's probably regretting it. "
Says Mum, who's sipping her tea
" I wonder what he's thinking. "
Says Dad who's leaving for work
I knew what I was thinking
" was it really worth it? "

Right now he's receiving death
As his punishment
A little much to me
But I suppose he should know
What it's like to be a chalk outline.
He's probably got a rope as a tie
Maybe chair straps as bracelets
His bones turning electric
Maybe he's got a bullet in his brain
His blood on the ground
As the criminal's heart takes
One last beat

But was it worth it?
To commit a crime?
A crime he'd be punished for
Was he asking for suicide?
Or was he mad inside?
Guess that's for the media
to decide

You can't take it
You can't live with it
The pain is too much
The kids at school
They keep hurting you
Or maybe it was your father
Maybe your mother
Maybe they're both dead
Like how you will be soon
Maybe you're in love with abusers
Maybe you are simply sad
But either way
You can't take it anymore

You take a rope from the attic
You grab a gun from the cuboard
You steal a knife from the kitchen
You're at the bridge over the river
You're on a railway with a train
Wherever you are
Whatever you have
It doesn't matter now

You take a rope from the attic
The kids at school
They taunt you and laugh
They say they wish you were dead
Well their wish is coming true
You're suffocating
You're silent
You're gone

You grab a gun from the cuboard
Safety is off
You're in your room
You whisper a goodbye
To the father who hurt you
To the brother who loves you
BANG
The shot can be heard for miles
You're gone

You steal a knife from the kitchen
Your mother's prying eyes
Who breaks your heart
With hateful words
You're in your bathroom
You hold the knife to your wrist
Your lifeline is bleeding out
The blood is on the white floor
You're gone

You're on a bridge
There's a cold and fast flowing
River of tears and sorrow
Your mother is gone
Your father is gone
Time for you to go
You leave your other family
Who are grieving with you
You jump
You fall
You're gone

You're at a railway with a train
Ready to hit you with pain
It wouldn't be the driver's fault
It was the abuser
You thought loved you
But you were wrong
You are hit by the train
It stops with your broken heart
You're gone

Where is the rope burn?
It burns your parents
They weep and wail
They lost their child
They're sunk into a sea of sadness
They read the note
They beg dear god above
" why were we not enough? "

Who did you shoot?
Your brother's chest
He's staring silently
At his sibling's dead body
As he stutters and sobs
He wonders
" why was I not enough? "

Who was stabbed?
Why your sister
She doesn't know who to talk to
She doesn't know who can help
As she screams for the neighbors
As your heartbeat stops
" why was I not enough? "

Who drowned?
The family you left behind
Your uncle is silent
Your aunt is shocked
Your cousins, your grandparents
They cant believe it
" why were we not enough? "

Where is the wound?
It bleeds in your friends' hearts
No matter how many you have
Or rather had
They can't stop crying
They can't stop thinking
" why were we not enough? "

Your name is in the papers
You're on the front covers
The world is full of tears
The news reporter is upset
There's a book with your name
There's ****** roses on your grave
Marked with your name

You stop
You think
You put away the rope
You put the gun back
You replace the knife
You walk away from the bridge
You run off the railway
You hide your tears in the rain
But you think
Think, think.
Maybe you can live one more day
Or two days, three days,
Four days, five days, six days
A week or two
A month or more
A year or so
Maybe forever

That was then
This is now
This is what is happening

You tried to hang yourself
With the rope from the attic
You left it behind
You're ever so brave
You went to school with a smile
And beat those bullies
With a help from bravery

You nearly shot yourself
With the gun from a cuboard
You and your brother have grown
You ratted on your father
But you were strong
You slayed him
With your hidden strength

You tried to stab yourself
With a stolen knife
You nearly took your life
You and your sister
You're both happy as can be
You shielded your sister
From your mother's hateful words
With a hint of kindness

You nearly jumped
Off of the bridge over the river
But you moved on
You carried on
With your family
With the help of happiness

You were almost hit
By an oncoming train
But you got through it
You left them
And came to your friends
With a feeling of justice

You are still young
But you're growing up
I have happy tears as I see
You saying thank you
When I simply said
What would happen next

What will happen after?
No clue
Don't worry though
You'll be fine!
Be yourself
Love yourself
You'll make it through life
No doubt