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| Why Suicide Prevention... |
Did you know suicide is the third leading cause of death among young adults?*
When I was 14 I lost a friend to suicide. In my freshman year of high school there was a suicide ring/epidemic. The general attitude taken by the school administration was to not talk about things. I was so frustrated by the community that I started my own zine called "Different – Your Alternative Newspaper," drawing upon the "alternative" movement of that time. The goal of the zine was to provide a forum for teenagers to write or draw about issues as far ranging as gang violence, domestic abuse, religion, drugs, sex and any other issue deemed taboo by "adults" who considered us not mentally equipped enough to handle the truth of what we were going through.
I will never forget seeing the body of my young friend. She looked so much like a doll, only pretending to be asleep. To me there could never be a truer definition of tragedy. A friend once put it to me this way, "Don't go to a party where you're not invited."
This is the poem I wrote for my friend that was published in the National Poetry Society's National High School Anthology:
PYRE
The phoenix fetus was trapped under your skin.
You burned yourself to begin again.
In memory I express through epitaph…
And when I sit here the unaware laugh and laugh.
Let reality strike-
Come upon me the fear I dislike.
Facial masks disappear-
To leave things all too clear.
The pyre rushed with life's colors.
The greedy beak peaked through.
You drank to survive-
But drowned freedom's fire.
You longed to be alive-
But sought the pyre.
I smell the soggy air,
And I smell shocked seaweed clogged in my nostrils.
A bloody clot is draining my nose rare…
And it is so cold my tears are still.
Now you are gone and I guess that's okay.
Let my tears sizzle, evaporate, and lift Icarus away.
I had another dear friend who was considering suicide during that time. I broke down and pleaded with them not to do this because I loved them. That was what they needed to hear. Ten years later they are married with children, a future that was once unforeseeable.
This is what gets me through this life. You never know what is coming next, and you will be amazed if you give yourself the chance to live.
Fish on,
Brooke Trout
* According to AFSP.
Blog Category: Life
Added on: 09/05/2007 09:01:22
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