Day Of Silence 2012

It gets better, I promise

Soldiers clad in red,

walking down the empty school hallways.

Passersby stare, giggles are held back.

Matching tattoos on their cheeks,

Sending a message that no one understands

but them. 

F**s, homos, gays.

Is this making it any better?

The bell rang for the end of second period. I grabbed my backpack, and threw myself into the mass of students flooding out of classes. Pushing by a few kids, I made my way to my math class. Once the traffic of teenagers slowed down, I walked at a more casual pace. A boy, probably a senior, grabbed my arm as he walked by. His eyes went straight to my tattoo, and he laughed at me. "F*g!" he cackled, and left me alone. I looked down at the spot on my arm where he had grabbed me. The mental pain hurt more than the physical.

Soldiers clad in red,

walking down the empty school hallways.

Passersby stare, giggles are held back.

Matching tattoos on their cheeks,

Sending a message that no one understands

but them. 

F**s, homos, gays.

Is this making it any better?

I waited in the lunch line, my stomach not nearly as hungry as it usually is. Once my tray was full of pizza and an apple, I got in line to pay. A group of boys were in front of me. One of the boys (whom I didn't know) smiled at me and told me to cut ahead of him an his friends. His friends protested, and gave him dirty looks. He looked at me, and told his friends that he could never be silent for a whole entire day and that he respected me for doing this. I smiled back, and paid for my food while his friends were speechless behind me.

Students clad in red,

walking down the school hallways.

Passersby smile, words of praise are heard.

Matching tattoos on their cheeks,

Sending a message that the whole world

sings back.

Beautiful, hopeful, humans.

This is only gonna get better.

Author's Note

On April 20th, 2012, over 25 teenagers at my high school took part in the National Day of Silence. (http://dayofsilence.org/) We were all given NOH8 tattoos to put on our cheeks, and we were told to wear red to let people know that we were silent. Both of the above stories are true, and it just shows how much people can and cannot accept something that is completely normal. It was quite an experience.

Reviews

[E S Stevens]

I wasn't so sure about your style on this one when I started reading, but I was very relieved and excited by the twist at the end. After reading, I really enjoy the repetitious poem that sandwiches the two bits of story telling. Nicely done, and thanks for sharing!

[Coyote Poetry]

Sometime must stand for the right. If you fall down without a fight. Everybody will lose. I like the flow of thoughts and the very good ending. Thank you for the outstanding poem.
Coyote

[Searching 4 Serenity]

Talk about pride.
One is wise when they not let pride get the best of them.
Pride should be that of an achievement made, not a victory.
In my opinion, victory aught to be referred by a fight one has won.
THIS is both a victory&achievement in moral understanding... So much for the OT "Old Tradition"
Let's hope that guidance such as psychology, philosophy, wise teachers, Humanism etc. can keep things on a... DX straight path XD

[SoulCrusader (Yas)]

Learnt about the day...never knew it...
excellent insight :)