Emo Girl (Breathe Life) Poem by Libby Bechtel

Trembling in the corner, head down, hair covering her face,

She tries to blend into the dull wall.

Fingering the scars on her arm.

Dressed in all black, unable to express what she truly wants to say.

Are you this girl?

Would you be this girl?

Could you be this girl?

Lost in her own world.

Putting on a mask,

She's drowning in her own pain and fear.

She's the one that draws the dark, vivid pictures in art class, disturbing the teacher.

She's the one that never looks into the eyes of who's addressing her.

She's the one that listens to so-called 'Emo Music'.

I'm sorry she scares you, that's not her intention,

She just doesn't know how to communicate through words what she wants to say.

Going to late night parties,

Getting involved with drugs,

Hanging out with people she never would have dreamed of hanging out with,

Flunking tests,

Rude remarks,

Hangovers,

Used condoms,

Tattoos and piercings she doesn't even remember getting.

Her life is spinning out of control.

How to stop?

How to make it stop?

Do you give up your life entirely just because you didn't get the result you wanted or you want something more?

She was lost and confused.

Overwhelmed with school work and the stress of growing up.

No one listened to her, so she turned to cutting, making the pain of her life temporarily disappear.

Then she turned to binge drinking, making her get a buzz.

Then sex, for her own pleasure and so that she at least felt wanted somewhere.

Now she's a wreck.

A girl with so many problems, which do you solve first?

How do you go back to normal?

Can someone make her snap out of this coma?

Breathe life into her once again?

She's slowly slipping through life.

If this was your friend, neighbor, family member, would you help them?

Would you open the lid of the casket that they are floating in down a slow, steady stream in and blow life into them?

Or would you, too, get sucked into the long drag of life and turn towards a slow, painful death for your soul that has way too many regrets to count?

by Libby Bechtel (1/16/10) ©