Stillness--
the cicada's cry
    drills into the rocks.

Photographs sure carry a weight, don't they? The black and white and sepia tones speak with a voice that has known sorrow.

They tell the story of fifteen minutes between small talk and bad news.
      Of a motorcycle, a truck, and a bottle.

They inform wary viewers of a Saturday funeral.
       Only six sunsets after a Saturday marriage.

They advise a newlywed widow to let go, to open her heart to love once more.
        Although they know she can now only live in fifteen minute increments.

"But maybe," they say, "she will never take 900 seconds for granted again."

When we are taught about bullying
The dangers and costs
We are told the consequences
What can be lost.

So I vowed to help others
Through thick and thin
And promised to never
Break open my skin

We are told to get help
To find someone to trust
We are told to survive bullying
That is a must

But what if the person
You loved most
Betrayed you
And became a ghost

I let her down
I wasn't there
I cry every month
Pulling at my hair

Thinking about her success
In something I'll never be able to do.
Who knew my mind
Could be a bully too.

How can you run away
From an ***** inside
That terrorizes you
Until you want to die.

I can't run away
I have no choice
But to pick myself up
And try to clear my voice

But things are harder to clear
When you face them alone
I have no real friends
I face the world on my own.

My voice grows tired
From my screams and internal cries
My brain makes me scared
To go to sleep every night

I'm always forgotten
Or in the way
Who knew my most feared bully
Would be here to stay

I've tried to run away
But there's no escape
I think about the jump
Taking a leap of faith

Into a world with no light
Just pitch black everywhere
Until my heart speaks its voice
And realizes it doesn't want to be there

My most feared bully
The worst of them all
Will continue to beat me up
Until I fall

I may be quiet
I may soon fall
Because my brain has turned
Into the most feared of them all

The story of you and me is my favorite story to tell.