The Modern Romeo And Juliette

She sits quietly in class
Taking notes, but never looking up
She sleeps in dirty jeans
And t-shirts two sizes too big
She writes poetry
While ignoring her peers
She never sleeps at night
Eyes open and mind thinking
Of what tomorrow brings

He sits quietly in class
Reading a book and never looking up
He cleans in clean pajamas
And no shirt despite the cold
He reads poetry
While ignoring his peers
He sleeps at night
Though he wakes up constantly
Mind racing of what tomorrow brings

They sat quietly in class
No one pays them much notice
They stand up when the bell rings
Moving slowly, dragging their minds from fantasy
The hit one another in the hall
Her poetry mingles with his books
They look up as they gather their things
And their eyes meet
While hearts begin to pound

They held hands
They dated
They kissed in his car
They shared words
They said those things
They made love under the stars

They were ignored in class
Yet they did not care
She wrote more poetry
Of the love she felt
He read her poetry
Heart swelling with love and pride
They wrote sonnets together
Of love and what was to come
While onlookers admire them

She could feel it falling
As her world began to collapse
She hid her poetry
For it spoke only of darkness and death
She knew her mother meant it
When she said “move out”
She knew her father hated her
When he showed her the door
And paid no heed to her tears

He knew it was bad for her
For he had it just as bad
He could not conceal the bruises
Or any of the scars
He was running out of excuses
Of what to blame them on
He knew the punishment for speaking out
So he kept his feelings in
And ignored those tear soaked pillows

They laughed fake laughs
They smiled fake smiles
They held each other close at night
They cried together
They shared each other’s pain
They tried to convince each other it was all right

She sits completely silent in class
Never looking down
She lies away in dirty clothes
And ignores her horrid sight
She burns all of her poetry
Shredding and destroying every word
She never tried to sleep at night
Covering the evidence up with make-up
Hiding it from all

He sits completely silent in class
Never looking down
He lies awake in clean pajamas
And a shirt to cover the bruises
He let’s his poetry books gather dust
Never bothering to clean them off
He no longer sleeps at night
And he does not hide it
Not caring what they think

They let their minds wander
Away from their worlds
They let their eyes meet
Across rooms
They do not need words
For there is no need
They clasp hands in the hall
And feel nothing
Only comfort from the one they love

They talked about it
They considered it thoroughly
They tried to think of another way
They came to a decision
They both agreed
They could not turn away

They walked into her bedroom
They held each other close
They kissed through the tears
They held the guns
They each had one in a hand
They felt no fear

There were two shots
One after the other
There was no time to think
Of what it could mean
She was such a quiet girl
She wrote beautiful poetry
He was such a quiet boy
He understood so much
They were so in love

Died together in love
Died together to end the pain


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