Death hurts

when you're seven

And hurts more at eleven

when your new best friend calls

razors ripping skin

crying in the bathtub

desperate for love.

Death hurts 

when you don't know

how long you can keep a friend

before they let their blood run down the drain.

Death hurts

at fifteen

vodka and pills made a threatening cocktail

as did pins and needles 

scratching pain into flesh

watching a childhood friend get lost.

Death hurts

the most throughout 

the teens

watching friends commit themselves to

oblivion

wondering

"what's stopping me?"