Poem: Sticks and stones

We all know the rhyme that starts with sticks and stones….

But what about the time that they made Tom feel all alone

Enough to where He thought it best to run from home

and go to a place where his mind could freely roam

and they would all stop making fun of his syndrome

But words shouldn't have hurt him

He always was walking with a grin

But since nobody wanted to talk to him

They never knew how tragic his life had been

He was never comfortable in his own skin

and he didn’t feel safe even with his own kin

He never came back to school one day

He took his life by jumping onto a highway

Everyone called him names like “retard" and “gay”

and even worse things, they’d say.

The day everyone found out what happened, they prayed

But I didn’t hear any apologies being made

Not even one “I felt bad when I spilled your lemonade…"