gently pushed against a car,
intoxicated

been kissed before,
but not like this

could be the flutters
of a first kiss

where there’s darkness there’s light, that’s what they say

but she’s heartless
and there was no light on saturday

how could she do this, how could she turn

w o r s e than those who damaged her?

no salvation, no “please,”
only devastation and scars no one will see

she’ll never have the life she planned in her dreams

they must be human,
they must have heart

but
they don't even start

when a head meets a brick wall.

in line, we wait
in line, they wait
for us to fall

they don't care

she says the world is ending,
they're scared.

maybe so

but I thought it ended
a long time ago

they came,
the sounds of our anticipated foe
they came,
what seems like forever ago

everyone's quiet, not a word

when can we scream!
death is so different from what it seemed

I walk for hours,
blend in the murmurs

I accept the deaths of my family,
not the murders

if I give in,
their black boots will stomp

in
different voices,
different skins,
different faces,

the same sins.

He bites his nail,
she bites her lip.

He looks at her,
she looks at him.

They look away,
they're only ten.

The bell rings—
"Hi! I'm Ben..."