Kiara Shanay Lee
Because the world can be cruel, but the mind can be even crueler…
You don’t know me and I don’t know you
But I know why you jumped off the roof
You screamed you cried you tried and you tried
To tell your story but the therapy copay was too high
So you tried drinking and you tried getting high
But you felt even more broken and you didn’t understand why
You had nightmares from the American Dream, a homegrown lie
Homelessness, War, Poverty — as American as apple pie — and you’ve had many a slice
You lived through it all — over and over again
They said the ball was in your court, but from the start, the game was rigged
Crooked systems, solutions gate-kept from within
Damn — I don’t know you, but I know why you jumped, friend
I don’t know you, but I know how hard it was for you to pretend
I wish you would have stayed longer, a lot longer, for change and for time to spend
I don’t know you, but I know the world failed you, friend
I wish you could be around for when the youth take the broken systems down
I wish you could learn from our elders who waded in troubled waters and didn’t drown
I don’t know you, but oh how I cry
When I realize that yesterday was your last time seeing the sun rise
But I know why
The people in line behind you on the 25th floor waiting to jump — they’re still there
Lord, by any means necessary, please walk them people down the stairs
*If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please call or text 988*
Where I live, there has been a recent uptick of incidents involving people jumping off bridges and buildings. Many of these stories don’t make the 6:00 news; instead, the people who aren’t necessarily waiting to jump are left to humanize those who once lived in the margins of life and death — and ultimately chose the latter. Onlookers and passersby report out to social media and the word travels that way. In essence, the people who share these stories are taking the victim’s lives and memory into their own hands just like the victims took death into their own hands.
These beautiful people, although I don’t know them, hold a special place in my heart. It hurts me to my core that life hurt them to this magnitude, to the point where ending their lives was seen as the only viable option to survive.
This world is tricky — this I know. But the world always loses when people eject themselves from it.
This poem is me trying to preserve memory and fight and life in my own little way.
Whether you’re a writer, a painter, an actress, or if you don’t consider any fancy titles for yourself – you are a creative. No matter who you are, to some degree, we all create and we all need space to take care of every part of ourselves. I hope The House of Psalm Magazine inspires you to take good care.
Dr. Kiara Shanay Lee | Editor-in-Chief, The House of Psalm Magazine
IG: @thehouseofpsalm @kiaraleewrites | kiara@thehouseofpsalm.com
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