"STICKS AND STONES MAY BREAK MY BONES,
                                       BUT WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME."

I don’t know about you,
         but I’d rather be impaled
                   with blades and rocks
                             than called the names
                                      I’ve heard you say.

                             Time after time I think you’ll change.
                                    The lash of words you speak always
                                              seem to cut like daggers
                                                      str­aight through me.
                                                             ­ But your secrets don’t leak out
                                                             ­       and I won’t seek for revenge.
                                                        ­                  I’ll just let you go, like I always do.
I’d rather be beaten and bruised,
          scratched and scarred,
                   combusted and cut up.
                             Because these marks will fade
                                      away from me over time.
                                                But the insults sting forever.

                                      I’ll keep your secrets,
                                                But you won’t keep me.
                                                          You­’ve hurt me before
                                                          ­         and I learned from it.
                                                             ­                But I didn’t learn enough
                                                          ­                            to not live the story over
                                                            ­                                    again and again.
You take different forms,
          as a friend, that I trust-
                   as a love, that I lust-
                             as my family, that I must.
                                      Your words stick with me all the same.
                                                And when they seep out as fallen tears,
                                                          ­reminiscences of them will always reappear.

                                                The scars I bear now
                                                          are­ the outcome of
                                                              ­     words and thoughts.
                                                       ­                      And believe it or not,
                                                            ­                          they didn’t hurt
                                                            ­                                  half as bad as the way
                                                             ­                                       you made me feel.
So, sticks and stones may break my bones,
But your words will haunt me forever.