The Modern Romeo And Juliette

She sits quietly in class

Taking notes, but never looking up

She sleeps in dirty jeans

And t-shirts two sizes too big

She writes poetry

While ignoring her peers

She never sleeps at night

Eyes open and mind thinking

Of what tomorrow brings

He sits quietly in class

Reading a book and never looking up

He sleeps in clean pajamas

And no shirt despite the cold

He reads poetry

While ignoring his peers

He sleeps at night

Though he wakes up constantly

Mind racing of what tomorrow brings

They sat quietly in class

No one pays them much notice

They stand up when the bell rings

Moving slowly, dragging their minds from fantasy

The hit one another in the hall

Her poetry mingles with his books

They look up as they gather their things

And their eyes meet

While hearts begin to pound

They held hands

They dated

They kissed in his car

They shared words

They said those things

They made love under the stars

They were ignored in class

Yet they did not care

She wrote more poetry

Of the love she felt

He read her poetry

Heart swelling with love and pride

They wrote sonnets together

Of love and what was to come

While onlookers admire them

She could feel it falling

As her world began to collapse

She hid her poetry

For it spoke only of darkness and death

She knew her mother meant it

When she said “move out”

She knew her father hated her

When he showed her the door

And paid no heed to her tears

He knew it was bad for her

For he had it just as bad

He could not conceal the bruises

Or any of the scars

He was running out of excuses

Of what to blame them on

He knew the punishment for speaking out

So he kept his feelings in

And ignored those tear soaked pillows

They laughed fake laughs

They smiled fake smiles

They held each other close at night

They cried together

They shared each other’s pain

They tried to convince each other it was all right

She sits completely silent in class

Never looking down

She lies awake in dirty clothes

And ignores her horrid sight

She burns all of her poetry

Shredding and destroying every word

She never tries to sleep at night

Covering the evidence up with make-up

Hiding it from all

He sits completely silent in class

Never looking down

He lies awake in clean pajamas

And a shirt to cover the bruises

He let’s his poetry books gather dust

Never bothering to clean them off

He no longer sleeps at night

And he does not hide it

Not caring what they think

They let their minds wander

Away from their worlds

They let their eyes meet

Across rooms

They do not need words

For there is no need

They clasp hands in the hall

And feel nothing

Only comfort from the one they love

They talked about it

They considered it thoroughly

They tried to think of another way

They came to a decision

They both agreed

They could not turn away

They walked into her bedroom

They held each other close

They kissed through the tears

They held the guns

They each had one in a hand

They felt no fear

There were two shots

One after the other

There was no time to think

Of what it could mean

She was such a quiet girl

She wrote beautiful poetry

He was such a quiet boy

He understood so much

They were so in love

And they died together

To end the pain