In The Park

The children at the playground,
Often picked on me.

Not for anything I had done,
Just ‘cause they were mean.

My parents told me “Laugh it off.”
So laugh it off I did.

Now the children in the park,
Used my laugh to pick on me.

My parents said “Ignore them.”
So that’s just what I did.

Soon enough, I was called,
“That stupid quiet kid.”

For months and months those in the park,
Harassed and teased me.

Until I felt like I was worthless,
Until I felt like that was me…

One day I told my parents,
Of how those children made me feel.

My parents said “How can this be?”
“You’re so sweet, so smart, so nice.”

I told them that I did not know,
And that I’d done everything they’d said.

I had laughed and I’d ignored them,
But they still made me wish for death.

So my parents said “Defend Yourself.”
But what was I to do?

There were so many of them,
And I was so few.

The next time that they teased me,
I tried to tease them back.

But I had been quiet so long,
That my voice had no attack.

They teased me worse from that day on,
Their words grew worse and their hate grew strong.

My will to live weakened,
My urge to kill grew strong.

Then one day they went too far,
They used rocks and sticks.

They threw, They swung,
They yelled, I cried.

But there was nothing I could do,
I ran right home,

I closed the door,
I waited long inside.

Then one day I emerged,
A pale white but reformed shell.

I did then what I thought I’d never do,
I damned myself to Hell.

I started doing what they had done,
I made others feel much worse.

Except I was better at their evil,
You see ‘cause I was smart.

I knew what made my victims tick,
What made them stop and start.

I knew just how to make them cry,
I knew how to hurt them at their heart.

I’ll never know what happened,
To make me change my ways.

I know that nothing changed them,
They are still like that today.

I’m glad though that things did change,
Because I fear where I’d be now.

Without friends,
Without family.

Alone in an empty playground,
Without anything at all.