Youngster I see you there Dressed in all black Untamed hair Glasses scratched Wallet chain hanging down to your knees A face with no smile Unable to please You walk the high school halls Like someone just died Gravitate toward the freak stage @ lunch time Till one day they invite you up Hand you cups of vodka and coke A place to ditch school And choke on smoke You carve curse words into knuckles with a safety pin Jack Slim Jims and cigarettes From Food4Less Refuse to go home before the last bus When you finally arrive Mom yells and cries Like she thought you died You hold on tight to your rage So the words don't explode in her face So she can make it through another day Without crack At night You sneak out the back To seek what you lack In the darkness of the park Underneath the slide You learn to hide From shame too big to name Learn to cry To lie through your teeth To get what you think you want A group home A best friend More ways to pretend To hear what the doctor said You crawl into bed Pray for the sun to die Learn to write When your heart bites When you have no choice but to look At your life On the page Blind rage Slowly turning toward the light In a fight To revive Darlene At fourteen. -Darlene Chavarria