Poetry Book Thingy

One Second, One Word | Slam Poem

I wrote this little gem in grade 8 (four years ago) for English class, and I rediscovered it today while looking through all my old files on my computer. And I forgot how much I loved it, so I wanted to "immortalize it," if you will. Hope y'all like my ever-so-special Slam Poem by 13-year-old me :)

PS that was me trying to typetalk with an accent, either a Southern accent or a Tyler Oakley accent. Shmorry

One Second, One Word

by Katie Belanger

In one second, three things can happen:

The thought that provokes an action

The action itself

And the aftermath of the action

That all snowballs into something bigger.

We're not here to hate.

We're not here to judge.

We're not here to bother

To bully

To bruise

To break those who are already broken.

We're here to love.

We're here to accept.

We're here to befriend

To believe

To breathe

To bleed for those who bled for us.

If only people could realize

The gravity of an action.

One word

Can hurt a lot more than

A punch to the gut or

A slap to the face.

Sure, they hurt, but the pain of a fist goes away.

The pain of a word lingers

And stings

For who knows how long?

Hours? Days? Months? Years?

Maybe even a lifetime.

We don't need this.

We don't need pain

Or suffering.

We don't need the agony of knowing that

Someone in the world is being a bully

Because they, themselves have been bullied

And it's all just an endless loop of

Tormentors

Intimidators

Antagonizers

Let's just face it, they're bullies.

Friends bullying other friends

And not realizing how much it hurts

Because they think they're simply being

"Funny".

Is that what funny is?

Since when is sending your best friend home crying "funny"?

Since when are the raindrops of sorrow

Drank by those who aren't thirsty?

We are all thirsty for dehydration

Because dehydration is God's way of testing to see

If we have control.

Kindness

Doesn't have to be a chore.

Kindness

Is given and received

By those who let kindness

Flow out of them like a river

Flowing into each and every one of us

And wrapping us in the warmth that comes with

Loving and being loved.

We all understand anger.

It happens to all of us.

All of these emotions bottled up inside you

And you just gotta let it out- but not like this.

We can't control our emotions-

but we can control how we react to our emotions.

We control what we say and do.

So if you don't have anything nice to say,

Don't             Say             Anything.