SPEAK

Today a young girl decided the World had won
She wept a while then she took a cold blade to her vein
She cried and prayed and watched her life flow out
When nothing was left and no one had come she lay dead
The World hadn’t won, we had failed.

Everyday we saw her and everyday we looked away
She sat alone in a corner, sad, looking at nothing
She cried in her room with her hand over her mouth
She stood alone in a crowd, saying nothing to anyone
The World saw her everyday in despair

She reached out to a neighbor while he reached for another
She spoke but nobody replied, not even with a glance
She sat at the steps of time but change never arrived
We had our own problems and vanities so she faded into the background
The World sent despair and He found her uprooted

A simple girl with simple hopes and dreams
She hoped for friends that would share her fears
She dreamed that in despair we would pull her out
In silence despair is deafeningly loud
We need to speak in that silence.

By Chinazom Lizzy Izuora