In Memory

Note: I wrote this poem after a classmate of mine ended up committing suicide last year. After some thought, I gave this piece to the superintendent of the Lexington Public Schools and she was able to pass it on to her parents. In putting this poem up here I dedicate this post to Ilana and to her loved ones. 

Ilana

Ilana
Ilana Virgile
I want to burn her name into my mind
I want to remember her face
I want to turn back time
I knew her
I knew her smile
I knew she was hurt
But somehow that didn’t change things

And now we keep on living
We keep on breathing while her lungs have stilled
Our hearts beat when hers has stopped
She chose this

How many deaths is it going to take people to realize this isn’t alright?
How many guns will it take to the head
Before our world understands
17-year-old children shouldn’t be dead

We can’t let her die in vain
We must see her death as a message of pain
That death was her final cry
Out to the world
Grasping at a last attempt to make someone understand
She wasn’t alright
She wasn’t okay
She didn’t have to die
She didn’t have to die
But she did

Her death touches on pain we try and hide through gritted teeth and hidden tears
How many days will go by before we realize the pain felt by others
Till we validate the pain in ourselves
Ilana
Ilana
Ilana Virgile
You mean so much more than you knew
It’s our world that needed to change
Not you

Photo: I got this photo in my own backyard, the sunlight was shining through the leaves above to get this lighting over the garden.