Bystander No More
Bouts of laughter,
Gaggle of hecklers,
Strangled words chucked
Nonchalantly.
Victims left with no armour,
Naked to the outside world.
“I hate fat kids.”
“No one likes you.”
A young girl smirks
In satisfaction;
She is now a new bellwether,
A leader in the destruction of
Good morality.
Unwanted;
The word echoes
Behind the eyes
Of a slain individual,
Left to fend for himself.
A classification made by society
For those who are different,
For those who don’t fit the standard.
A word made to demean,
To terrorize into normality.
It is one’s duty to take a stance,
To speak up for the silenced.
A written email,
A firm voice,
A need for justice
Work together
In harmony
For a change.
With my actions
I stopped the brutality
Of words.
I stopped the incessant berating
Of ordinary students
Trying to get through life.
She does not get a pass
For her malicious comments
Because “she’s having a bad day.”
One can only take
So many bad days
Before the impact of words
Can cause irreversible damage.
Speak up
As a colleague
As a friend
As a human being.
Saying one thing
Can make all the difference
In one person’s life.