She Spoke

On the bus
She opened her mouth;
Her life came out
In a jumble of words
Blended together by speed.
I said one word,
She said a hundred.
Pain and hate grew in her
Lining the insides of her heart.
“I can’t cry anymore”
She said.
Remnant of a broken home
Turned to anger.
“I hate them”
“I hate them,” she said.
She meant it.
“I wasted my love on them,
They don’t love me.”
She spoke the words
Because her life depended on them,
If she stopped speaking she would run out of air.
The yellow bus came to a stop
She died down.
A fish out of the water
With no one to listen to her.
Missing the moment of oxygen—
The moment she spoke.