Speak

Broken people cannot be fixed.
We are all broken and we don’t need
to be glued back together.
We need to tell our stories.
We need to tell the stories of each crack
and each fracture
before we explode and shatter
because we cannot stand the silence.

We need to tell the story behind
all the scratches on our surface.
We need to find people we trust
and tell the the stories behind each wound
and each scar.

There are kids out there
who need someone to talk to
because every night their parents
use their fists to yell
after they get drunk
off their own anger and hate.
And their parents wouldn’t hit
if they would just learn how to speak instead.

There are people who live their life believing
that because their parents told them
that they were conceived by mistake
means that their whole existence is a mistake.

There are people who have their innocence
beaten and ripped from them
by just another person
who never learned how to control their urges.

There are child molesters
that began molesting
because it happened to them first.

There are people who start fights
with other people and themselves
because nobody listened to them
when they said they needed help.

That’s what we all need.
Someone to listen.
We need words and ways to tell our stories
and piece our thoughts together.
When we try to share our stories or ask for help,
people say we’re doing it for attention.
But tell me what’s so bad about getting attention?
What’s so bad about letting people know
that you have something worth saying?
We are not made to blend into the background.
We are made to speak out.
We are made to be heard.

When we ask people how they’re doing,
why do we believe them when they answer
with a “good”, “okay”, or “fine”?
When we ask people how they’re doing,
do we really care?
Or are we just trying to make conversation?

How many times do you start a conversation
with the intent to listen
instead of speak?