I’m new, my surroundings are new, who am I?

And then I learn where I am, but not who I am.

I’m at a school, believing that around me, there is good,

Believing that I am good, but then the world goes dark.

The ghostly cold walls are swiftly turning on me,

The floor transforming into an ominous impassible terrain.

I see the monsters growing in size around me,

Their laughs and snickers growing heavy in my ears.

Their eyes piercing me like knives thrown to kill,

Their smiles wicked and pleasured by my pain.

Often, we are scared just as our friends and our enemies are,

We all feel the same, fear the same, and few of us don’t run.

At school, at work, and even at home, life threatens our heart,

What do we run from…

 

We run from each other fearing our dignity and prestige,

So we hide beneath masks forced upon us by our insidious society.

We grow into new surroundings,

Meeting new people, but always behind that dark wall.

And then, we too, become a vile monster willing to harm,

Listening and mimicking the torment done unto us to others.

We either watch silently not raising a hand to any matter,

Following along and letting the harassed suffer.

Or we become the worst that is possible,

And mature into an image resembling evil.

We’re scared, because we think that we have become ugly,

But all we can do is run…

 

We’re running because now we’re alone,

The world has flipped it’s side and confusion swirls.

The only thing that comes to mind are the questions,

Where am I, who am I?

Am I the person I was before I walked those halls?

Or am I the one who inflicted all that pain?

What happened to me? Why did I fall?

When did I come to not recognize myself?

All around me, they are changing,

Expression suppressed and individuality lost.

The groups grow larger and the strong become weak,

Until all that is left is the monsters that rage.

Why does this happen and why can’t it change?

Who made this, the norm that we follow?

I’m tired of watching as my friends all dissolve,

Knowing that soon, I’ll be at the front of the line.

No longer will I stand and watch the time fly by,

No longer will I raise my hand and scorch the ones I miss.

I will change the way I am,

And I will ask the same of you.

Don’t let the monsters catch you,

Stand up for yourself.

You’re better than what you think,

And you don’t have to run...