Severed Silence

Heart Shaped Magnet

Once there was a little girl
And she wrote a poem with a blue crayon on a piece of purple construction paper
With edges too thick to give you a paper cut
And she called it "Flowers"
Because that's what her dad gave her step mom on their first Valentines Day
And her teacher gave her an A+
And her mom hung it on the refrigerator with a heart shaped magnet
That was the year her sister and brother splashed with her in the mud
And made chalk houses and played make believe in the kitty pool
And she had a crush on a guy in her class and gave him a valentine that said xoxo
And her dad called her every night at her mom's house to say sweet dreams

Once there was a girl
And she wrote a poem in a notebook
With wide lines and decorated with music notes
And she called it "Tether Ball"
Because that's what she played at recess
And her teacher gave her a B and said do better next time
And her mom didn't hang it on the fridge
Because all the magnets were busy holding up unpaid bills
That was the year her sister threw out all of her Barbie dolls and got a cell phone
And she had to be careful of the sharp corners of her paper
Because they could cut her fingers
And the boy in her class asked another girl out on Valentines Day
And her mom got a new boyfriend who liked to make messes
And her mom would cry in the middle of the night because of the grease smeared on the counter
And her dad never called her at her mom's house because he was too stressed right now because of all of the fighting he did with her step mom

Once there was a young woman
Who wrote a poem on a loose piece of paper with thin lines
With notes for her Algebra final in the margins
And she called it "Pain"
Because that's all that she felt
And her teacher gave her an F and a note to the counselor
And her mother didn't hang it on the fridge
Because she never saw it
That was the year she found her sister in her room with blood running from her wrists
And she watched Irreplaceable You and cried like a baby because she wanted love like that
And the boy in her class moved to a different state
And her mom broke up with her boyfriend but she could hear her crying in the middle of the night wishing that he was a good man
And she tucked herself into bed at night because she knew her dad would never take the time to tell her to have sweet dreams

And that's why on a piece of paper ripped out of her journal
She wrote a poem
And she called it "Goodbye" because that's what you say to a dying person
And she gave herself an A and bruises on her arms and legs
And left her memory with drops dripping from her arms onto the carpet of that hall
And she taped it on the bathroom door
Because she didn't have the strength to find her heart shaped magnet