The Hidden Shame

Suicide and the LGBT community.

The words

Which you see

Written before you.

Aren't

A cry for pity

Or a vain attempt

Trying to draw attention

To myself.

Rather

A plea for help

For my community

As we struggle

With suicides

And mental health.

One estimate believes

By the age of twenty

One third of LGBT children

Will attempt and succeed

In take their life.

(On the conservative side

In my opinion

As not everyone will report

A suicide attempt.

(It took me

Several decades

Before I told anyone

About my attempts

As a child.)

While

I can only speak

From my own experience

As a child.

Who

Came of age

During the 1980s

After the peak

Of the AIDS crisis.

Hearing hateful

And damning

Homophobic comments

From the other kids

On the school grounds.

As their fists

Rain down upon me

Leaving their bloody marks

On my body and soul

For years

To come.

Mercifully

Never had to experience

Cyber bullying

Or by text messaging

Like people do

Today.

Just thinking about

Coming out of the "closet"

Is one of the most stressful moments

Of any one's life.

Regardless

Of your age.

Fueling anxiety attacks

And depression

Over the possibility

Of being rejected

Or worse.

By your family

And friends.