Teenage Suicide

I thought of dying
Gazing into the black, seductive ice water
So glassy and so tranquil
I thought of dying
But in my place
Death's bony embrace
Clutched listless children
Gnawed by hunger;
Prisoners on death row
Detritus of their own childhoods;
Poor shepherds grazing blunt-toothed animals
On landmined hillsides

I thought of dying,
To throw myself away
So much landfill
If it's no use to me
I could give it
I can holler with my lungs
At injustice
Join hands in protest
At brutality
I realized that I had long been dead
But I could choose instead
To reawake
And be alive for them