middle school blues

by J.J. Campbell

a sixth grade
student got up
from her lunch
table with all
her friends and
walked to the
restroom on the
other side of the
school and hung
herself

she was found
later in the day
by another
student

there was no note
left and weeks later
the whole community
is still dumbfounded

i'm sure it'll come
out that there were
drugs involved
or the mean girls
started calling her
a whore
or her parents
disciplined her for
not getting straight
a's

none of that matters
to me

all i can think about
is how i would've
never had the guts
to do that when i
was that age

i guess girls do
mature faster than
boys