Stanza 2: Each voice is told to speak in hopes to avoid it, but fear prevails and the number continues to grow
Stanza 3: Each one having believed it would not have gotten better, each voice feeling unheard in a sea of many others
Stanza 4: Their pain feels unheard, resolution is what speaks to them in the form of death
Stanza 5: Kicked chairs and tied nooses, empty pill bottles and tall bridges, life has worn children down before they’ve grown up
Stanza 6: The bathroom floor will be painted red, the pills on the floor lay still in place of boxed dye
Stanza 7: Homework remains untouched, still like the lifeless body amongst the cold, hard tiles
Stanza 8: The blood of those who have fallen is the blood of those that have felt unloved.
Stanza 9: But-
Stanza 10: Theres the mother in the kitchen, unknowing and singing a tune, taking in the aroma of her son’s favorite food
Stanza 11: There’s a father in a garage, back sore getting a car ready for his daughter’s sweet 16.
Stanza 12: Sixteen.
Stanza 13; One.
Stanza 14: Six.
Stanza 15: 1.6 million attempted suicides each year.
Stanza 16: Each one will find a body, the corpse found but not their baby
Stanza 17: Sirens and noises fill the neighborhood, the sobs and weeps of each parent will spread through the community
Stanza 18: Their siblings, having their last words be “I hate you” will be flooded with regret
Stanza 19: And prom dresses will remain untouched, and the burden of having to buy clothes will come in never having to buy clothes at all
Stanza 20: The burden of the funeral, the loneliness when face to face with their grief- the heavy presence of what used to be are what fill the holes in their hearts
Stanza 21: No candles will be bought the following year for those who committed at 16. 17 will just be an unused number
Stanza 22: Seventeen.
Stanza 23: One.
Stanza 24: Seven.
Stanza 25: One, his first words were “mama” Seven, her first ever sport being soccer
Stanza 26: Their youth will be a distant memory, and their future will remain unknown.
Stanza 27: The love that was once there takes on the form of anger, regret, and pain
Stanza 28: But to feel so much pain is a blessing that should never come so early, to feel the absence of someone you loved so dearly
Stanza 29: Names will be spoken in past tense, names that should have only been spoken past age 80
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Stanza 30: Please reach out to one another, and remember you are not alone.
Stanza 31: I pray, that number will be brought down to zero one day.
Stanza 32:And I pray, no one will have to face the grief of losing a loved one through suicide ever again.
--Llorin Venice P., 9th-12 Grade
--Llorin Venice P., 9th-12 Grade