The Day My World Turned Blue

Death has a way of bringing people together--a true account of suicide

Today the world turned blue

I got the message

Late in the night

Fwd: wear blue tomorrow

a freshman boy has died

a suicide.

I obeyed the text myself

I always liked a bandwagon

Even when no one else 

in this school did.

I was surprised, I'll admit

when I walked the halls today

A sea of blue met me

nearly unbroken

It swept me up in its embrace

An almost universal participation

like none I'd seen before

Barely anyone acknowledged

pajama day, and less than half

wore those purple shirts,

the ones with the hashtag:

"BeYou"

But today, 

with no prompting from the school,

today the world turned blue

Death has a way

of bringing people together

as often as it tears them apart

and suicide even more so

A freshman

He struggled with depression,

anxiety, drugs

His passing makes me sad

but I won't pretend to grieve

I didn't know him

I won't miss him

But still, I grieve

not for him, but for the living:

The friends and family who loved him,

the ones who truly miss him

because everyone is loved

by someone,

sometime,

somewhere

They say it is sad to die alone

But truly, it is a selfless act

No one will miss you

No hearts will be broken

And that is a beauty on its own

I am selfish, I'm afraid

When I go,

wear purple.

Author's Note

Based on true experiences. I wrote this on the day after the boy killed himself, so its a true reflection of my feelings at the time

Reviews

[Slow Leak]

This was totally touching.. Great visuals. Like your voice

[Cagan]

Thanks for the review!