Wake Up \\ River

Wake Up

CW: mentions of self-harm

Wake up. The world is crying. Wake up. People are dying. People are being killed
like flies. The whole world has become a warzone and all I’m worried about is getting a
boyfriend. The whole world has erupted into chaos and all I can think about is myself. Why
don’t I have more friends? Why don’t people like me? Why am I so bad at math? Why is life
so boring? Why am I so sad? Well, I’ve woken up for good. I’ve rubbed the fog from my eyes
and have woken up for good.

I am never going back to sleep. I won’t become intoxicated by such problems as an
alcoholic longing for a glass of whiskey. I will feel my pain. I will face my fears and then
acknowledge how grateful I am to not be scared for my life wherever I go. I will fight until the
world is a safe place for everyone. All lives don’t matter until Black lives do. The world is so
unfair. History is repeating itself; innocent Muslims are being killed. Human beings locked
away in cages like rabid animals. The humanity on earth torn to pieces like paper, shattered
like glass, blown away with the wind. Blood blanketing the cool grass, painting the world a
scarlet red. America’s leader fighting against everything I believe in. I’m so scared to walk
alone at night. I’m trying to be hopeful. I’m trying to keep fighting but I’m crying. The world is
dying. Broken bones, shattered dreams, broken hearts woven together with sadness and
rage bursting at the seams.

Poisonous words, thrown at our hearts like knives. We aren’t only killing each other
but are killing ourselves. That says a lot about what society does to a person.
Society doesn’t care if you’re hurting, depressed, scared or sick. Society craves money,
power, and lust. Sex sells as they say. People displayed like precious gems their worth
based on one single number. I can’t take it anymore. Fire, pills, envy, blood. My heart is a
burning flame fighting against the morning rain. Ice, death, greed, lies. My eyes bleeding
pools of strength, slowly seeping into the cool grass. Drip, drip drip.
My head is polluted with a thick smog of lies. The same smog that runs rampant
through our skies. I’ve wanted to die. I’ve broken down. I’ve hated myself for so many years.
I’ve blamed it on the world. But I’ve learned to put down that razor and face the storm.
Countless battles lost in my head, but I’ve won the war. I’ve found my light. We have to keep
fighting. We have no other choice. Why do people care about who someone loves? Why do
people care about how they identify? Why do people care about the colour of someone’s
skin? We only have one shot at this little thing called life so why waste it being hateful?

Wake up. Climb out of the shadows. Wake up. Come see the sun.

River

River was kissing a girl they say,
“That’s so weird”,
“River is just confused”,
These words travelling across the halls
faster than a forest fire,
Trailing behind River like shadows
Injected into their heart like heroin
They burn through Rivers ears,
if River was kissing a guy, they wouldn’t say a thing
That’s why River spends their time on blood-stained floors
Empty pill bottles littering their room like toys
That’s why River wishes they were straight,
That’s why River did whatever he said,
River learned from a young age,
People like them don’t get to be happy,
People like them don’t deserve to be loved,
River burned the parts of themself that tainted their spirit
Moulded themselves into the person society tells them to be
River decided to pretend to be someone else
So then maybe, they’d feel less alone