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Let’s Break Our Hearts Together Tonight
Trigger Warning: Mentions of violence, PTSD, self-harm, and depression
Raise your fists boys and girls, children of the Earth,
let me hear your roars as you scream desperately
fighting for what you know is just, in that tiny voice of your heart
And let me see that burning fire that rages inside you
that single flare that erupts from a passion of hope
Clinging to the couch pillow,
TV remote in hand, as the news flashed before her very eyes
her lip trembling from the fear that gnawed at her heart
eyes clenching closed as she flinched at harsh words
and she couldn’t help but think of that kind man
who offered his seat on the bus for her
or that old woman with the blue coat and cherried mask
that stood outside the store, smiling at all who went inside
And slowly, she felt at ease on that same couch
with the news flashing at her from the TV
Holding his quivering hands over his ears
a boy watched in fear as his father was held at gunpoint
for a crime he didn’t commit, a crime he was accused of
/for the color of his skin/
/for the life that was laid out for him because of past mistakes/
/for the thoughts that if it wasn’t him now, then it’d be him later/
and tears streaked the boy’s face,
as his father held his hands up behind his head
backing away towards a police car
and the boy cried tears of the stars, choking on the sounds of screaming sirens
until someone walked up, to the center of the little crowd formed,
where the father stood, hands up, a gun pointed at his head
and said.
“It wasn’t him.”
Foggy handprints imprinted the window,
the cold biting at the warmth of her hand, as her breath swirled in front of her
and slowly her handprints faded away, as if they had never been there
like the scars that she carried with her, scars that only she could see
/because if no one else can see them, then they’re not real/
but she could never forget the feel of hands around her neck
or the feel of eyes on her, silently watching from the shadows
/waiting to strike, ready to take her as their prey/
/even as she cried oceans of pain that were littered with the carcasses of dreams/
and she could never not flinch when someone approached her
or walk around alone without calculating an exit route
for they robbed her of her smile, killed the innocent girl in her, and left her for dead
until someone found her from the depths of her despair,
saving her before she was too far gone
and it wasn’t until then, that she realized
“It’s going to be alright.”
Flailing arms, sinking smiles, his last breath was stolen
as he sunk lower and lower into the abyss that threatened to swallow him whole
his scars shooting across his wrists like shooting stars
the weight of the world taped onto his back, threatening to sink him farther into the void
a pain so great it chewed him from the inside out, taking everything with it
as the abyss reached for him, luring him in with the dreams of freedom
/free of shackles/free of a pain so great/free of the soundless screams/
and he let himself sink, chains dragging him farther underwater,
thinking that if he let go, the world would be better off
as he sunk in his ocean of fallen tears that nobody cared about
and just as he let go, someone dove in and grabbed him
wrapping their arms around him and telling him all the things he needed to hear
/that they knew the world sucked/but that didn’t mean he had to go/
/that people were awful/but that didn’t mean he needed to prove them right/
and finally there was someone who could cry with him,
and for the first time, he started to float, his chains becoming lighter
So let me hear your cries children of mother Earth,
and let’s break our heart together tonight