i cried at a stranger's funeral
When I saw your pictures plastered on billboards,
I felt bad for your family
A tragedy
A misfortune at least
So, I decided to bid you farewell
Send another sister off
It was at your funeral where I realized you were more than just that picture
More than just another number
While looking at your slideshow
I got a glimpse of your life
You were a person not a statistic
You were a friend, daughter, sister
You were a person
As tears streamed down my eyes,
I realized i was crying at a strangers funeral
Not because I was sad
but because I saw you
With every slide it felt like you were leading me down your life
Shining a light on my conditioned mind
Now I realize I was crying for your family
Seeing them trying to memorize every inch of you
Fighting with every piece of their existence
to hold on to the image they have of you
Stuck between acknowledging what happened to you
And remembering your good days
Struggling to contain the fountain I was producing,
I remembered you
And the dreams you will never get to chase
The disappointments you will never get too heal from
The opportunities you will never get to grab
How such a bright light was extinguished so violently
I cried because you will never get to heal
Forever the victim
I cried because no matter how beautiful your life was,
the last memory you will have
Is of him
I cried and cried at a stranger funeral until I began to cry for me
I cried because through you, I saw me
What could have been if I had fought
I cried because I didn’t know which was worse
Dying or being left alive to have to gather the pieces of you that he didn’t want
I cried because even in life every day seems like a death sentence
I cried because whether victim or survivor it stings the same
I cried at a strangers funeral because for the first time I said “me too.”
I cried at strangers funeral because I knew she wasn’t the first
nor was she the last
I cried for those who were never found
Whose souls will forever wonder
Whose cries were never heard
I cried for those who carried it with them because of shame
I poured out my soul at a stranger's funeral because I was exhausted
It feels like I’m always crying at a stranger's funeral.
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