For the Hundred

Life is a gift

no one deserves

to lose.

One hundred murders

were committed

in my city this year.

One hundred humans

deserving of rights

were killed

in my city

this year.

One hundred.

But apparently

that's an improvement

from last year

and it's only

September.

I am scared.

Should I be?

Some people might tell me

no.

Some people might tell me

I'm fine.

Some people might tell me

it doesn't matter.

But I'm just a

fifteen-year-old

girl

living in Baltimore,

Baltimore,

and I don't

know what to do

when I hear

gunshots

at night.

I don't

know what to do

when people are

being killed

in what is

unfortunately

my hometown.

I don't

know what to do

when this goddamn

country has become

known for gun violence.

I mourn the

deaths of the one

hundred strangers

that were killed

in Baltimore this year.

The one

hundred humans

who did not

deserve to die.

They deserved to

live.

They deserved to have

rights.