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