Centuries
Location
once upon a time
I liked to press
my fingers
into the sides of my neck
because it helped keep me quiet
when I heard all the bad
trying to sneak into my brain
but as I grew
and grew
and grew
I found out that keeping quiet
hurt more than screaming
so loud
your throat bled
because silence is the one thing
that has always been the downfall of us
and we take history class
to learn from our mistakes
but what we have learned from silence
does not seem to translate well
and silence
continues
on
all of us trapped
hello
how are you
good, how about you?
puppets
trained not to express
how we truly feel
scared to
because what would people think of you
if you actually had
feelings
but you're wrong
I'm wrong
they're wrong
everyone's wrong
because the only emotion
that all of us are born with
is love
everything else is learned
we are teaching
each other
is how to be ignorant
so that when we see someone suffering
we scoff
or pass by
or maybe feel guilty
but still don't
do
anything
and this is how
we learn sorrow
by being abandoned
in a room full of people
and this is why
people want so badly to leave
that they leave for good
I watched a boy
degenerate
I watched him
never realizing
that I could have changed things
maybe
if I'd said hello
he'd still be here
maybe
if anyone had
he would still be here
but he isn't
and it's history
so we have to learn from it
but we don't
so it keeps happening
and a friend once told me
that when a dog is cornered
it will stop barking
and start biting
because it's the last resort
there's no other choice
and we all think these people
are angry
and mean
but it's a last resort
they've been cornered
it's the last resort
there's no other choice
but this happens
all the time
we've tried
speeches
projects
pacts
to spread love
but it doesn't work
because everyone believes
for a day
or two
or maybe a month
but you have to believe
all your life
for it to make a difference
but a couple days
of being loud
doesn't make up for centuries
of silence