For the next few weeks I have decided to make a series of posts about poetry because I have been really interested in it lately. I will be showing you a poem I have found and then talking about it and how I feel about it in depth. My favorite poet at the moment is Erin Hanson. She writes poems that rhyme and usually talk about nature or people and I absolutely love every one that I read because it puts me right in the story and makes me feel for the people and things she talks about. I love to picture the events she spells out in my mind and imagine the beautiful scenery she describes. One of my favorite poems of hers is the one below which deals with someone going to school and finding out that one of her classmates has killed herself. Because of the recent popularity of the Thirteen Reasons Why series on Netflix, I thought this would be a good poem to start my poetry series with.

They announced it on a Monday,

In our school’s old sweaty hall,

That a girl that I had math with,

Wasn’t coming back at all,

You could hear the silent questions,

She was perfect wasn’t she?

What demons was she fighting,

That we were all too blind to see?

I sat in math that Monday,

Beside her now abandoned desk,

While our teacher warned us not to fail,

Our fast approaching test,

I remember once she whispered, that she was envious of me,

My parents knew the work it took,

Just to get a simple ‘B’,

I wish I’d noticed earlier,

Or had the decency to ask,

Because her world must have been crumbling,

Behind her “perfect student” mask,

And I wonder if on that Sunday,

It was the last thought in her brain,

That the only A+ she could give,

Was the blood type in her veins.

-e.h.

This poem is very powerful. From the first line blatantly going right into the story, to the last line giving you a very powerful and gruesome image in your head, it traps you in for a long story encapsulated in a 23 line poem. Poetry like this is what really hits your heart because you can imagine being in the situation. Going to school and finding out a classmate isn't coming back because they killed themselves really makes you think about how you treat people and if you could have saved them.

Like in the series Thirteen Reasons Why, the narrator in this poem asks if they could have done anything to save the person. When anyone dies we ask ourselves that because we always want to be able to save the people we know and love. When you notice someone acted strangely or seeming more closed off than they usually are, you should not just sit by and let them go through something by themselves. You should ask them how they are doing, see if they want to hangout, or ask if there is anything you can do to help them.

I am not saying that there could have been anything anyone could have done to help this person after they made the decision to kill themselves, but there could have been a lot of things people could have done throughout her life to let her know that she wasn't alone and that killing her self was not the only option.

What can we learn from a tragedy such as this? If your friend is acting really different and you are worried about their safety, talk to them. Ask them what's wrong. Tell someone else if you feel they are going through something that may be too big for them to handle alone. If you see a kid in your class acting strangely, tell someone. Express your concerns because at least you will have done something that could have saved them. You have to try and seek help if you ever feel like this as well or put yourself in a place where you can be at peace and find a solution to your problem. Let others around you know how you are feeling and if you have any problems going on that others could possibly help with, do not stop until that problem has been dealt with because, as corny as it sounds, you will get through the pain you may be in and get to a place where you will feel so much better than you do right now.

Do not forget that there are always people available to help you and do not stop looking for them. I am here for anyone, and I mean ANYONE who ever needs to talk to someone or confide in someone. And if you want to talk to someone else you can always contact Lifeline.

You are always wanted and cared for, although it may not feel like that sometimes. There is always someone that will help you so do not loose hope.