Your Words by Hannah Zhang (16, Arizona)

Each word you spoke, each thorn you flung 
Used to pierce my fragile heart
Each string of happiness hanging on
​By the force of dreams in the silence
Yearning for more stillness and delusion​

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Appearing a reality to the numb
To those who wanted to believe
There was more than hurt behind words
And more than pain behind tears

​Your careless words taught me  That life’s greatest lessons
Are learned through pain
Such as a glowstick
That cannot light up the dark
Until it has been broken

And in these words I say to you
I hope your words have found their grave
And disintegrated to ash
That they have stayed clear of the sky
And not died a dead rose
Whose seeds float in the wind
Hoping to find a forever home
In someone else

Your words have lived their life and
Like all living things must pass away
And I talk with no angst
As they have taught me how to be strong
And so, my parting words 
Will deliver the same

Rest in peace, to your words
Who have put me through 
The darkest nights and shown me 
The brightest lights