stories

you choose the coldest seat in the class

next to the tall pretty girl

with a gleaming smile and long, straight flowing hair.

taking one good look at her you already know her story.

a stuck up rich girl with tons of friends and people bowing at her feet.

no.

no thats all wrong.

you have her all wrong.

you probably didn't know that her sister is fighting for her life against cancer,

always wrapped up in hospital sheets,

cold and deeply afraid.

she cancels sports and plans and lets friends go to be with her sick sister.

she is loosing everything and everyone.

a little girl walks down the street beside you,

hair braided and a glimmer in her eyes.

you can tell by looking at her she was born into a good family.

but no...

you got that all wrong too.

under her pink fuzzy bear onesie is bruises from her bullies.

she is afraid to speak up.

she is afraid the monster will grab her ankles and pull her away forever.

she screams "mama!" but she can't scream at all.

shes weak and most of all afraid.

a homeless man begs on the sidewalk,

hoping for something to change.

your mind immediately goes to him being a junkie,

abandoning his family for a good high.

but thats not true one bit.

he had a wife,

and a little girl too.

he would sit her atop his shoulders and they would wander to the park.

swinging and singing.

but then he lost it all.

he lost it all to a war in his mind.

his battlefield; his wrists.

and the prize was his heart.

he lost it all because he tried to get a grip.
 

truth is,

you never quite know someone's story.

i never know yours,

and you never know mine.

no matter how much we know each other,